


Henry VS The Aftermath

by quackquackbi



Series: Ted Foster AU [2]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Major TGWDLM Spoilers, Multi, Paulkins - Freeform, References to Canon-Typical Violence, References to Canonical Character Death, Some Black Friday Spoilers, Ted Foster AU, revamped and reposted, slowburn, tedgens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25862311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quackquackbi/pseuds/quackquackbi
Summary: (Do not read if you haven't read the first book, "Webby VS The Apotheosis")The second book in the series, it picks up where the first left off. Follow along as the group tries to navigate this strange new world post-Apotheosis... for better or for worse.Now complete!
Relationships: Alice & Bill (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Alice/Deb (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Hannah Foster & Lex Foster, Henry Hidgens & Hot Chocolate Boy, Henry Hidgens/Ted, Lex Foster/Ethan Green, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins, Ted & Hannah Foster, Ted & Lex Foster, Ted/Charlotte (Previous)
Series: Ted Foster AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833517
Comments: 14
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1: What If Tomorrow Comes?

The morning after the almost-Apotheosis is fairly quiet, at least at Henry's house. No one had wanted to go home for fear that it wasn't truly over like they'd thought, and Henry had plenty of spare bedrooms, so they'd all just stayed the night. Ted and Lex slept in one bed with Hannah curled up between them; Alice and Deb had awkwardly shared a bed with Emma; Ethan and Peter (Alice's friend) took the room with two twin beds; Paul and Bill had each taken a couch.

Henry didn't sleep much after burning his manuscript in the backyard. When he'd come back inside, Ted was already passed out in bed next to his daughters, so there wasn't much flirting Henry could do at that point. It’s a good thing he’d already invited the man (and everyone else) to stay the night.

But now it's a new morning, and Henry is pretty determined to flirt with the 'hot single dad' (as he'd put it last night). Starting with breakfast. Henry didn't have much in his pantry and fridge at the moment, but he did have enough raw ingredients to make pancakes.

Henry had hoped that Ted would be the first one awake, but he has no such luck. It's the boy that Emma, Paul, and Bill had brought back alongside Bill's daughter, Alice. Henry doesn't remember his name.

"Uh, good morning," the kid mumbles.

"Good morning," Henry says slowly. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name yesterday. We were all quite distracted, I think."

"I'm Peter," the kid says. "Peter Robinson. I go to school with Lex, Ethan, and Deb. Alice, too, until she and her mom moved to Clivesdale."

"Nice to officially meet you, Peter," Henry says, chuckling. "I'm Henry Hidgens. I teach biology at the community college. Are you hungry?"

Peter nods, and sits on a barstool at the counter. "I can feel my blood sugar dropping."

"Well it's a very good thing that I'm almost done here," Henry says, flipping over the last pancake of the first stack. Henry's recipe is a silver-dollar recipe, thin and dense. So while most people would have two or three big, thick pancakes, Henry's allows for seven or eight. He plates them up and gives it to Peter, passing along the butter and maple syrup.

As he ladles out the next batch, he watches Peter. The poor kid is quiet, fidgeting nervously as he eats. His hands are shaking ever-so-slightly, which could be due to the low blood sugar Peter had mentioned, but Henry has a hunch that there's more to it than that.

"Is something wrong, Peter?" Henry asks gently. He tries to make a joke. "You can tell me if it's the pancakes, I won't be offended."

Peter shakes his head quickly. "No, they're really good!"

"Then what is it?" There's a long moment of silence, where Peter doesn't even eat. He just picks at his food while he seems to debate whether or not to say what's bothering him.

"My mom," Peter finally admits quietly, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. "She, um, she's the one who chased me to the high school yesterday."

"Well," Henry sighs. "She wasn't herself, no one really was. But as you can see from Lex, Ethan, and Deb, your mother should be fine now."

Peter shakes his head again, more slowly this time. "I had to do  _ something _ to stop her... I found the baseball team's equipment. I— I had to—" He cuts off with a shudder, eyes watering. 

Henry lays his hand on top of Peter's. "You did what you had to do," he says gently. "If you hadn't, there's no telling how she would have infected you. We saw someone here, one of the people who came to me yesterday, had her stomach torn open and her guts ripped out, by her own husband. She wouldn't have survived without those spores sustaining her. Your mother would have killed you— whatever it took to get you to join the Hive."

Peter shudders again, but nods. "Thanks... that helps a little... but what am I gonna do now? It was just the two of us. My dad died a few years ago."

"You are more than welcome to stay here with me until the authorities can sort things out," Henry says. He gestures toward the hallway with the three spare bedrooms. "As you can see, I have plenty of space."

Peter smiles a little, but it's more of a grimace. "Thanks," he says quietly, and goes back to eating. Henry nods, satisfied.

The next person awake is Lex Foster, Ted's elder daughter, just in time for the second stack of pancakes. She silently accepts it when Henry offers it, but gives him a grateful smile. Sitting next to Peter at the counter, she coughs into her elbow, then speaks.

"Thanks," she croaks, and winces. Henry quickly grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and gives it to her. She chugs it all in one go.

"I have a feeling Ethan and Deb will be the same way," Henry mutters. "You all did quite a bit of singing yesterday, and I don't think any of you are used to that much, let alone while dancing."

Lex nods. "I—" She cuts off with another cough into her elbow, wincing again.

Hannah comes shuffling in, clutching her stuffed dog to her chest and still yawning. Henry quickly pours out a smaller batch, while Lex gets down from her stool to help Hannah get on one. Setting her dog on the counter, the little girl smiles shyly at Peter, then a little brighter Lex, and finally Henry. Each of them smiles back. Henry plates up the pancakes— only three for now, but he can make more if she wants them.

Alice and Deb join the party next, Ethan trailing not too far behind them. Henry doesn't quite understand why all the kids are the first ones up until he glances at the clock. Oh, of course. It was about the time they'd all be getting up for school. It’s their circadian rhythms at work. There isn't enough room at the counter for all six of them, so the newcomers sit at the table behind the first three. Peter, finished with his pancakes, passes each of them a plate as they become available.

Henry grabs a whole armful of bottled water and sets them on the table. "For any recovering throats," he says with a wink.

Finally, Ted comes in. He blinks around, still sleepy, and takes in the scene in front of him. Five teens and one five year old, all eating pancakes (or having already finished eating), and Henry Hidgens cooking more still.

"Bet you never expected to have this much company before," Ted says, chuckling. "Especially this many under eighteen."

"Um, definitely not," Henry admits. "But it's a nice change from my usual morning routine."

Ted laughs a little harder. "Yeah, me too— oh, shit, d'you think school's gonna be open today? I doubt it, but you never know—"

"There's a TV in that room," Henry says, pointing to the living room. "I only get news channels. They should be announcing what schools and businesses will be open today."

Ted rushes over and flips the TV on, hoping to hear that everything's closed for the day. Yesterday, Tuesday, the elementary school had been closed for renovations, which was why Hannah had been with him to begin with. As Dan and Donna talked about the town's mysterious joint memory loss, scrolling text at the bottom of the screen announced that all schools and businesses— even government buildings— would be closed for today and tomorrow, but were expected to be reopened on Friday.

Ted breathes a sigh of relief, and mutes the TV. He goes back to the kitchen. "No school or work for anyone today or tomorrow," he announces. Henry offers him a plate of pancakes, and Ted takes them with a chipper smile. "Thanks!"

Lex leans down to whisper something in Hannah's ear, and the littlest Foster giggles. "Lexie wants to know if she can go back to bed since she doesn't have to go to school," Hannah announces.

Ted shrugs. "If the professor's okay with us staying a bit longer, sure," he says. "If not, you can go back to bed as soon as we get home."

"You all can stay as long as you'd like," Henry says quickly. "I wouldn't mind the company."

"I need to—" Deb coughs into her elbow, and Alice rubs her back soothingly. Deb grabs one of the waters and drinks about half of it before trying again. "Parents—" she gets out, then coughs again. She finishes off the water and sighs, leaning her head on Alice's shoulder.

"Of course," Henry says. "Your parents must be worried sick. We'll get you home as quickly as possible, then."

"Dad and I can take her home," Alice says quietly, still rubbing her girlfriend's back.

Ethan groans before coughing, too— not nearly as bad as Lex or Deb, though. "My mom's gonna be freaking out," he mumbles.

"We'll get you home," Ted promises. "I could drive you now, if you want?" He starts to get up, and Henry has a slight moment of panic, but Ethan waves him off.

"She can wait—" he coughs again.

"All three of you need to drink plenty of water," Henry says sternly. "And try not to use your voices today. None of you are used to that much singing in one day."

Ted bites his tongue to keep from smiling. Hot and fatherly? Damn. There was still the matter of the whole ‘tried to kill us' thing to consider, but Ted couldn't help noticing all these more positive things in the light of a new morning. There’s just something about successfully stopping an alien invasion that’s got him in a good mood. He quickly finishes his pancakes, and gets up to help Henry clean all the dishes.

Emma slowly shuffles in. "Hey," she says, yawning.

"Hello, Emma," Henry chuckles. "You just missed out on pancakes." Henry's quite glad that Ted had arrived in time, considering he'd been the intended recipient for them to begin with. Emma shrugs him off.

"I'm more of a pop-tart kinda gal," she mumbles, checking the pantry. "And of course you don't have any..."

"Au contraire," Henry says, and reaches around her to grab two boxes off the top shelf. It had been pushed all the way to the back, so Emma wouldn't even have been able to see it. "Chocolate chip, or strawberry?"

"Mm, chocolate," Emma says, and Henry hands her the box before setting the other one on a more accessible shelf. Emma sits at the table where Ted had sat, closing her eyes as she eats. "Someone's gonna have to give me a ride home. My car got left at Beanie's."

"The only reason I have my car is because we grabbed it on the way back last night," Ted says. "I'll have to give all of you guys a ride into town. Probably have to make a couple trips."

"If the professor's not in any hurry, neither am I," Emma mumbles.

Ted ticks off everyone on his fingers. "I guess I'll take Bill, Alice, and Deb first," he says. "Then the second trip I can get you, Paul, Ethan, and Peter."

Peter freezes, and Henry speaks up. "Peter will actually be staying with me for the time being," he says. "His mother was killed yesterday, and he has nowhere else to go."

Ted glances at Peter, who nods sadly. He wipes his nose on the back of his hand, and grabs a napkin to do it properly.

"But as I've said earlier," Henry continues. "I'm in no hurry to rush any of you out the door."

Henry quite likes the company, he decides. Not just the individuals, but in general. Part of him had always wanted a family, but then his growing obsession with the Apotheosis had gotten in the way. Now that the Apotheosis is out of the picture, perhaps he could work on changing his lonely state. Peter could be a good start. Henry already has a few ideas…


	2. Chapter 2: Do You Want to Play?

Later that morning, Ted does indeed start ferrying some of Hidgens' guests into town. Bill, Alice, and Deb are first, once Bill eventually wakes up.

While he's gone, Hannah wanders around the house and explores. Lex makes her promise to be careful, and to not snoop too much. Then she lays down on the couch with Ethan's head in her lap.

There isn't much that Hannah hasn't already seen. The hallway with the bedrooms, sure. The lab and adjoining music room, check. Kitchen and dining room, of course. The room in the basement where Ms. Charlotte and her husband had chased them around yesterday? Yep.

She remembers a movie Lex watched with her not too long ago about a magic world inside a closet, and decides to see if there's any truth to it. Pouting, she sits on the floor when she doesn't find anything but the back wall.

Hidgens comes out of his lab just in time to see Hannah crawl into a closet between the lab and music room, and he chuckles.

"Hannah, sweetheart," he calls gently, crouching down. "What are you doing?"

"Narnia," she mumbles. "Not real…”

Hidgens shakes his head sadly. "No, I'm afraid it’s not... would you like to go watch a movie with me? I'm finished with my work in the lab."

Hannah shrugs, still pouting. "Disney?"

"Of course," he scoffs playfully. "Do you prefer the new ones, or the older ones? Princesses, or the others?"

"All," Hannah says, crawling back out. She lets Hidgens pick her up and carry her back upstairs. She sees her stuffed dog on the counter, where she’d left him after breakfast, and points. Hidgens takes to and lets her grab him before heading into the living room. Lex and Ethan are both asleep on one couch, so he and Hannah sit on the other.

"How about..." Hidgens stops to think, setting her down on the empty couch and going over to his DVD collection. "Snow White?" He grabs the movie to show it to her, and Hannah shrugs shyly.

"Is there a different one you'd rather watch?" He asks gently, and Hannah hesitates before nodding.

"Aristocats?" she mumbles, playing with her hands.

"Aristocats it is," he says, putting Snow White back where it belongs and grabbing the request instead. He puts it in the DVD player and sits down next to Hannah. She crawls into his lap, humming along.

She grins up at him, and he smiles softly at her. "Favorite," she says, and he nods.

"It is?" he replies. "Did I tell you that it's one of mine, too?"

She shakes her head and giggles, slowly feeling more talkative. "Belle is my favorite princess. I'm gonna be her for Halloween!"

"Really?" Hidgens asks. "Which dress are you going to wear?"

"The gold one," Hannah says it like it's obvious. "'Cause she's not really a princess until then."

"Hm, is a pretty dress really all it takes to make someone a princess?" He asks doubtfully, teasing her, and Hannah shakes her head.

"No, but it helps," she says quietly, and leans her head against his chest. She plays with her hands again as she goes back to watching the movie.

Lex starts to stir, blinking over and smiling sleepily at her little sister. Hannah's eyes are glued to the TV, and she starts to hum along to the next song.

—————

Ted trudges up the front stairs. Henry had told him to leave the gate unlocked so he could get back in easily. He's surprised to find that the front door's unlocked, too. Paul and Emma are sitting at the dining table, discussing something over a late breakfast— Paul's breakfast, anyway.

Ted clears his throat. "You guys ready to go?" He asks carefully, eyeing the pair. Emma nods, standing, and Paul follows suit.

"Thanks for the ride," Emma says.

"No problem," Ted replies with a small smirk. "I'm sure the professor is secretly itching to get everyone out of his hair."

Emma laughs quietly. "I know I called him reclusive yesterday, but that was a bit of an exaggeration. He likes people, for the most part. I doubt he'd be a college professor if he didn't."

Ted shrugs. "Either way, I'll go grab Ethan and we can head out." He heads through the kitchen and to the living room, stopping short when he sees everything going on.

Hannah's sitting in Hidgens' lap, giggling away as Aristocats plays on the TV. He's braiding her hair and humming along. Ethan and Lex are both half-asleep on the other couch, slowly in the process of waking up. Ted clears his throat again, and all four look over to him. Hannah waves cheerfully, and Hidgens actually blushes a little.

Ted has no idea what to make of that.

"Uh, Ethan," Ted says, forcing himself to look away from the professor's pink-tinged cheeks. "You ready to head home?"

Ethan groans. "My mom's probably freaking out, so I guess I have to." Lex pats his arm and kisses his cheek.

"You know she just worries about you," she says. "She loves you."

"I know," he grumbles, kissing her forehead before standing up. "Lead the way, Mr. Foster."

Ted glances back at Hannah and Hidgens one more time before leading Ethan back to the front door. Paul and Emma follow them from there out to the car.

—————

Henry takes a few subtle deep breaths as Ted leaves with Ethan, and resumes braiding Hannah's hair. As soon as he's finished, he gently moves her off his lap and onto the seat beside him. She protests lightly, an adorable little pout gracing her lips.

"I'll be right back, Princess," he mumbles, the nickname just slipping out. He doesn't stop to think about it as he hurries to the nearest bathroom. He doesn't notice Lex watching him leave with a curious look on her face.

Henry closes the door behind him and goes to the sink. Splashing some cold water on his face, he tries to gather his thoughts.

_ Yes _ , he thinks Hannah's adorable. 

_ Yes _ , he thinks her father is very hot. 

_ Yes _ , he's always wanted a family.

_ No _ , he's never thought he'd actually get one, thanks to his own obsession with the Hive and their Apotheosis.

_ No _ , he probably doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of ever getting that family now, not at his age, and  _ definitely _ not with the man he'd drugged and almost tried to kill. Not to mention the part where Henry had also drugged that man's  _ five-year-old daughter _ . Jesus Christ, what had Henry been thinking?

Clearly he hadn't been. Henry shakes his head to clear his thoughts, and pats his face dry with the hand towel, before going back to the living room. Hannah's stopped pouting by now, though she's not as cheerful as she had been earlier.

"How's your throat feeling, Lex?" Henry asks, and the teen shrugs.

"Better," she says. She's still a little hoarse, but it's not nearly as bad as it had been at breakfast. She gets up and gestures for him to follow her back into the kitchen, so Henry does. "Thank you for everything... not just what you've done for me, but for my dad and Hannah. For everyone, really, but especially them. They're all I have. And— and I'm not just talking about at the theatre. I mean... Dad said last night that Hannah told you about— about some of the things our mom's done..."

"Lex," Henry says gently. "I understand. You don't have to say it. I'm just glad it came to light, for both of your sakes. Your mother won't be able to hurt either of you anymore."

Lex nods, tears unshed in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispers again, and throws her arms around him in a hug. Henry's a little surprised, but he hugs her back, both gentle and firm.

They break apart a few moments later, both blushing slightly, when they hear Hannah's voice carry from the living room as she sings along to  _ Everybody Wants to Be a Cat _ . She's good for a five year old, but certainly not infected-level good. Henry's perfect pitch can hurt a little sometimes, but he brushes it off this time.

He and Lex go back into the living room. Lex smiles at Hannah and goes to sit next to her on the couch, pulling Hannah into her lap. Henry hums as he goes to sit on the other couch, guessing (quite correctly) that Hannah might not appreciate hearing him actually  _ sing _ . Not so soon after what had happened yesterday.

Hannah pats the open seat next to her and Lex, where Henry had been sitting earlier, and gives him such adorable, irresistible puppy dog eyes that he can't say no to, that he goes back over. Lex seems perfectly comfortable with the new arrangement, even going so far as to lean into him a little. Hannah wiggles around until she's on both of their laps, laying across them with her head turned so she can still see the TV.

Half an hour later, this is the sight that greets Ted when he comes back. Both he and Henry try to ignore the way their hearts are pounding.

Lex carries Hannah out to the car, both girls oblivious to the awkward tension. Returning the booster seat to its proper place (having put it in the trunk for the sake of his adult and teenage passengers earlier), Ted straps Hannah in safely. Lex usually rides up front with him, but today she stays in the backseat with her sister. 

Waving them off, Henry locks the gate behind them when he goes back inside. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees Peter come out of one of the bathrooms, having almost forgotten the boy was staying here. 

“Um, do you mind if I get something to eat?” Peter asks hesitantly, his nerves clear on his face. His blue eyes are tinged red— clearly from crying— and Henry remembers  _ why _ Peter’s staying with him. 

“Of course,” he replies. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be in my lab— let me know if you need anything.”

The kid nods, avoiding his gaze as they go their separate ways. 

As the professor disappears down the stairs, Peter goes to the pantry and gets some stuff to make a sandwich.  _ Bad timing all around, _ he thinks to himself, grumpy.  _ Just stick it out this time. He’s got some stuff to help you, you saw it earlier.  _

Still, he can’t help hating every second of his situation (he might even go so far as to say his entire  _ existence _ ), no matter how hospitable the professor is being. 

—————

Emma’s apartment is totally trashed when Ted drops her off. There’s something smeared on her walls— almost like dried blood, but darker, almost black. As though it had been there for  _ weeks _ even though it certainly hadn’t been there the last time Emma had.  _ Yesterday _ . 

On top of that, all her stuff is tossed around, like someone was looking for something. The only picture frame in the entire apartment, the one with her and Jane back in high school, is smashed on the ground. The picture itself is torn in half, and the part with Jane in it is gone. 

Emma thinks she knows who may have done all this, and tries very hard not to get angry. It’s not their fault— they were infected by an alien Hivemind. 

Too emotionally exhausted to bother trying to clean anything up, she goes straight to her bedroom and collapses face-first on the bed. The sheets have been torn from it, and there’s a big hole on one side on the mattress, but it doesn’t really matter. She falls asleep fairly quickly. 

Then the nightmares come— Jane and the car crash, and of course the Apotheosis bullshit from yesterday. It goes a little differently in her dream. Paul gets infected and chases her down in a hospital for some reason, singing to her with everyone else. Ted, Bill, Hidgens— Tom and Tim are there, and even Jane. 

Just once, she’d like to have a peaceful night’s sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3: Status Quo

"C'mon, Lex," Ted groans. "It’s time to get out of bed. School's starting back up today whether you like it or not, and you're going."

"School sucks," Lex says sleepily, rolling over and putting her pillow over her head.

"Alexandra Foster," Ted says sternly. "Get a shower, get some breakfast, and go to school.  _ Now _ ." She throws her pillow to the floor and slinks out of the covers, grumpily following his instructions. Avoiding eye contact, she keeps her brown eyes trained on the floor as she half-stumbles to the bathroom. 

Hannah's elementary school starts much earlier than the high school, so she's already sitting at the kitchen counter, eating the cereal and strawberries Ted had fixed for her. She's humming the title song from the Aristocats when he comes back in.

"Hey, Pumpkin," he says, kissing the top of her head. He hears the shower start up down the hall, and sighs in relief. He isn’t sure if he would've had it in him to keep arguing with Lex. If she hadn't given in when she did, he might've just let her stay in bed.

"Hi, Daddy," Hannah says with her mouth full. Ted doesn't even have to give her a stern look (although one does briefly come to his face) before she quickly swallows and sheepishly apologizes.

"Do you have everything you need for today?" he asks softly, and she nods, starting to list off all her school supplies. Kindergarten school supplies. It feels a little like the first day of school all over again.

"Can I take Charlie, please?" Hannah begs. Her puppy dog eyes are usually less effective on Ted than they are on Lex or Ethan, but he gives in anyway. It’s been one hell of a week, and he can’t deny Hannah this small gesture of additional comfort. 

"He stays in your backpack, got it?" he says sternly. "If you lose him, you may never see him again."

Hannah nods rapidly, hopping down from her barstool and running back down the hall to grab her stuffed dog toy. She comes back, gently setting him inside her backpack, on top of everything else. She kisses the dog's forehead before zipping her backpack closed.

"Ready!" she says cheerfully. 

Ted trusts that Lex can keep getting ready while he takes Hannah to school. It’s a short drive, and he comes back just in time to see a fully dressed and ready teenager grabbing some pop-tarts. 

On the drive to the high school (which is only a little longer than the one to the elementary school), Lex doesn’t say a word. She keeps her eyes glued to her phone, one leg bouncing with pent-up energy or nerves. Ted’s not sure which. When they arrive, she hardly waits for the car to slow down enough before she hurtles out of the car, barely a goodbye falling past her lips, and Ted shakes his head with a small frown as he drives off. 

There’s very little traffic on the road on his way to work, which is probably a good thing. Ted can’t stop thinking about Lex’s attitude, and what could be causing it. 

—————

Henry feels oddly nervous as he takes Peter to Hatchetfield High School. He'd already taken Peter back to his house to get a suitcase of clothes, his toiletries, and his school bag. Peter had refused to let him inside. He'd seemed nervous, and Henry hadn't wanted to pry, so he’d waited dutifully in the driveway. 

But now Henry is about to pull out of the drop-off zone, and he spots Lex Foster hurrying to catch up to Peter with a small smile on her face. Ethan, her boyfriend, is waiting up by the doors. Henry sees Deb, too, Alice's girlfriend.

Henry smiles to himself as he drives off. Unfortunately, he can't go home. Grade schools aren’t the only ones starting back up today. He has about an hour before his first class will begin, but at least that one includes Emma.

They only have a couple weeks before finals, and Henry has to make sure his students are caught up after those unexpected days off. He's already made a condensed lesson plan for each of his classes for today, and made personal notes to take certain content off the exam.

The free hour goes by quickly, and Henry finds himself at the front of his classroom. Half his students are missing, but that’s to be expected. At least Emma is present. They smile at each other as he begins.

As he teaches, he mentally notes that she seems to be happier than she had been before— before that whole mess earlier in the week. She also doesn't seem as tired, either, the normally-present dark circles under her eyes almost gone. Henry pulls her aside after class to ask her about it.

"Oh," she says, blushing. "Um, Paul and I have an official date coming up. A week from tomorrow, actually. And as for my sleep habits... um, I had to get a new mattress— someone trashed mine during that whole…  _ thing _ . It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than the one at your place, no offense.”

Henry chuckles. "None taken. All the mattresses except mine are old and in need of replacing."

She laughs. "Well, I have to get to my next class. Luckily, I only have these two today. But then I have to work the evening shift at Beanie's, so wish me luck. Apparently Nora and Zoey don't remember the fact that I quit while they were all infected."

"Yes, I've heard the whole town is suffering from memory loss— the amount of time dependent on when they became infected," Henry sighs. “And yet they don’t remember how  _ that _ happened, either.” It feels a bit of a shame to him, really. From a scientist’s perspective, he’d like to be able to hear about what it had been like to be part of the Hivemind. For  _ curiosity’s _ sake, not for his… lapse in judgement. 

“Jesus, I wonder why,” she replies sarcastically. 

Checking the time on her phone, Emma gives him a small two-finger salute and rushes out the door. Henry starts clearing the board for his next class. His mind keeps drifting back to Ted, though, and he knows what that means for himself.

Henry is totally fucked.

After his fourth and final class of the day, he heads home. It’s been one hell of a week, and he needs a  _ drink _ . One glass of straight bourbon later, he gets to work grading everything he’d been avoiding this week. 

—————

The lunch tables are totally switched around. People are grouping together with people they'd never considered sitting with before— and no one but Ethan's table is quite sure why, except that there are obviously tons of students missing today.

Ethan sits with Lex and Deb, as he usually had, but now Peter is joining them. He comes from the bathroom, shoving something into his backpack. 

"Dr. Hidgens said we can't tell anybody," Peter says quietly. "Not even that we remember— I mean, those of us that do." He twitches a little, going to scratch at a spot on his upper back, and quickly shakes his head when Deb offers to get the spot for him. He squirms in his seat, seemingly uncomfortable. 

"What's the deal with you two, anyway?" Ethan asks. "Are you living with him now? Is he adopting you?"

Peter shrugs, finally getting that spot scratched. "Yes to the first question, and 'I have no idea' to the second one. I know it's only been like, two days, but is it weird if I kinda want him to? He's pretty cool, actually. To me, anyway, maybe not to you guys. Biology's my favorite subject."

"Better you than me," Deb says with a small laugh. "Math and science are way outta my zone. History's pretty cool, though."

"Nerds," Ethan teases, sounding rather fond. He notices how quiet Lex is, and nudges her knee with his own. "You okay, babe?" he asks quietly. She shrugs.

"There's something... off about the way he looked at my dad," she admits, quiet enough that it's only for Ethan's ears. "Nothing bad, I don't think... but when my dad took you home the other day, he got kinda weird for a bit."

"Maybe he thinks your dad is hot," Ethan jokes. Lex doesn't laugh, actually taking his suggestion seriously.

"Maybe he does..." she mumbles, thinking hard.

A teacher comes by and makes Deb take off her beanie, but she puts it back on as soon as the teacher’s out of sight again. The scowl doesn’t leave her face, even as the bell rings and they all split off to their classes. 

Lex doesn’t say another word as she heads to art— the replacement subject she’d been forced into after the shop teacher had left last winter. Art isn’t  _ so  _ bad, really. She likes working with the clay, but they don’t really do that very often. At least most of the other activities keep her hands busy, too. 

—————

CCRP Technical is very quiet without Charlotte. Mr. Davidson is missing, too. Everyone carries on anyway.

Paul finally does his statistical analysis for the previous week (as well as getting a head start on this week's), and fixes the problem with the printer network. He has no idea how he does it— he still can’t even figure out  _ what _ the problem was, but it’s gone now. 

Bill reorganizes the break room, probably trying to not think about Alice finally going back to Clivesdale. When he's done, he reorganizes his own desk, too. Just killing time until he can go home. He makes a pot of coffee that goes untouched, and everyone thinks about how— despite it being the  _ exact _ same thing the rest of them make— Charlotte’s coffee always somehow tasted better. 

Melissa runs errands for everyone, since that was usually her job for Mr. Davidson. The only thing they don't ask her to do is get coffee. Paul does that himself, even though Emma's shift isn't due to start for another few hours. He avoids tipping, of course, and flinches when Zoey starts singing for someone else. The scandalized look on her face when she saw him do that might’ve been worth it, though. 

Ted stares at his computer screen, trying to organize his thoughts so he can get some work done. But he keeps drifting to the scene from the other day— Hannah and Lex curled up with Professor Hidgens on his couch, watching a Disney movie together. It made his heart melt and freeze at the same time. He knows what that means, for him at least.

Ted is totally fucked.

Toward the end of the day, their other boss—  _ Mr. Davidson’s boss _ — comes in to thank everyone for coming back in to work. She tells them that Mr. Davidson and his wife were actually found among the dead, buried among some rubble outside the theatre. That means the company needs someone to replace him. 

Go figure, they’re more concerned with the position getting filled and productivity going back up. Ted hopes to God they don’t pick him— it’s Paul. Paul gets the promotion, and Ted sighs in relief. He’s got enough to worry about right now. 

At the end of the day, he gathers up his stuff and heads to the car. He’s parked in the same spot he had been before, when he and the professor had managed to stop the Apotheosis. Ted avoids looking at the theatre down the street as he makes his way home. 

Lex and Hannah are already home, as usual, and Ethan’s with them, too. The teens are working on homework at the kitchen counter, while Hannah watches a Disney movie in the living room. No one speaks other than brief greetings, as Ted gets started on making dinner. Ethan doesn’t stick around much longer, and heads home just as soon as he and Lex have finished their homework, despite Ted offering him a plate. 

All in all, the Foster household has a quiet Friday evening for the first time in a while, untainted of the idea of the girls having to spend the rest of the weekend with their mother. 


	4. Chapter 4: Deck the Halls (of Northville High School)

Hannah pouts at Lex, arms crossed as she leans back in her seat. 

"But you guys promised," she whines, grabbing her sister's arm and shaking it. "Before everyone started singing, you promised to take me with you and we'd go see a movie together!"

"I just don't know, Banana," Lex sighs dramatically, and sits on the arm of the couch. Hannah doesn't realize she's only being teased. "Ethan and I just  _ really  _ wanted to have some alone time for a date..."

Ethan's standing behind the couch, and the five year old can't see him smirking. Hannah gives her sister her best puppy dog eyes— big, brown, and watery— and the only reason that they technically don't work is because Lex is already planning on doing what Hannah wanted her to do.

There's a long moment where the only sound is Hannah going, "Mmm?" while she pouts. Then Ethan breaks it by snickering, which sets Lex off into her own laughter.

"Of course we're taking you to the movies," she says, picking Hannah up. "How does the new Aladdin sound? I heard it's really good!"

Hannah nods enthusiastically, as Lex and Ethan take her out to his car. Ethan drives them to the mall, and carries Hannah inside.

"Three tickets to Aladdin, please," Lex tells the cashier, and he rings them up. She rolls her eyes at hearing the price— almost forty bucks for three tickets?— but forks over the money her dad had given her, before Ethan can try to pay for it himself. "You can buy the popcorn," she soothes him when he grumbles about it.

So he does, as well as the drinks, and the chocolate chip cookie he sees Hannah eyeing at the counter.

She nibbles happily on it as he carries her into the theater. Not many people are out and about outside of school and work, and the three of them are the only ones to see this particular movie today. Hannah wiggles in her seat a little as she finishes her cookie, the trailers still playing. She giggles in anticipation when the lights dim, and Lex gives her a little dixie cup of popcorn.

Hannah's happy grin fades as the first song starts playing, and she freezes altogether when they start singing. Her hands start shaking, and she drops her popcorn.

"Banana?" Ethan asks, and starts stroking her hair. "What's wrong?"

"N-no—" she mumbles, shaking her head. She starts to cry, covering her ears with her hands. "S-singing..."

"Shit," Lex says. "Maybe a musical wasn't the best idea... I'm so sorry, Hannah."

Ethan picks Hannah up and quickly carries her out of the theater, stopping in the hallway to wait for Lex, who quickly gathers up their things and follows.

"I'm so sorry, Banana," Lex says again, as Hannah buries her face in Ethan’s shoulder. "I wasn't thinking—"

She mumbles something, but it’s absorbed into the leather jacket. Her hands slowly come away from her ears, though, and after a few more minutes, her breathing finally steadies out.

"Wanna see if they'll let us watch something else?" Ethan asks. Hannah nods.

"Cartoon," she mumbles. "Nothing real..."

"I'll go ask," Lex says, dashing off.

Ethan rubs Hannah's back soothingly. She lays her head back down on his shoulder, as her heart slowly returns to normal. He leans against the wall and slides his back down until he's sitting on the floor with Hannah in his lap. She sighs, and mumbles something intelligible again. It sounds like an apology. 

Although her panic attack seems to have faded, she’s clearly still nervous.

"It’s not your fault, Banana— and I don't really care what movie we watch," he assures her. “It’s whatever  _ you _ wanna watch.” He offers her some of the popcorn Lex had left with them, and Hannah takes a handful and puts one piece in her mouth at a time.

Lex comes back with a small smile. "They said we can go see Toy Story 4," she says. "It starts in about ten minutes. Does that sound okay, Banana?"

Hannah nods, so Ethan stands back up. Lex leads them to the new theater, and they take their seats. Once again, they're the only ones in it. The movie starts and plays without a problem for Hannah. She giggles and cries at all the appropriate times— even Lex and Ethan tear up at some moments.

Afterward, as they leave the theater, Hannah starts to fall asleep in Lex's arms. Ethan takes them home and says goodnight.

It's almost 8:30, and Ted's waiting for them with a smile as he catches up on some work.

"How was the movie?" he asks quietly, closing his laptop to take Hannah from her sister's arms and hold her close. Hannah doesn't even wake up at the movement of the transfer.

"She... I think she had a panic attack at Aladdin," Lex admits. "The live action one? It's my fault. I should have guessed that seeing real people singing and dancing would've scared her after everything that happened..."

"So what did you do?" Ted takes Hannah and tucks her into bed, and Lex trails after so she can tell him. She stuffs her hands in her jacket pockets, scratching the back of her ankle with her other foot. 

"We took her back out of the theater and Ethan calmed her down while I asked someone if we could switch movies," Lex explains quietly. "They let us watch Toy Story 4 instead. She liked that one, and we were fine afterward."

Ted kisses Hannah's forehead, and he and Lex head back out, closing the door behind them.

"Well I'm glad she's okay now," he sighs. "What about you and Ethan?"

Lex shrugs, avoiding her father’s eyes. "We're fine," she says. "We still don't remember what happened... but I'm kinda glad about that, you know?"

"I get it," he replies, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her. "Tomorrow morning I'm calling the court system to have your mother's visitation rights revoked indefinitely."

She sinks into her father's arms, taking her hands from her pockets to hug him back, and tears up. "Thank you," she says. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner... I could've protected Hannah..."

"You were scared," Ted soothes her. "You did nothing wrong."

Lex sniffles a little and pulls away from the hug. "Can we go watch some TV or something?" she asks, wiping her nose with her sleeve. Ted nods.

"Sure," he says, and they head back to the living room and sit on the couch together.

Lex curls into her dad's side, and he turns on a movie at random— some Marvel movie, neither of them could really tell the difference between them anymore— and eventually they both fall asleep like that.

—————

The next morning, Hannah wakes up and stumbles out of bed to go ask her daddy for breakfast. She sees him and Lex fast asleep on the couch, and decides that breakfast can wait. She climbs on and cuddles into Lex, closing her eyes and relaxing into her.

Ted wakes up after only a few minutes and looks down with a smile.

"Hey Pumpkin," he whispers, and she opens her eyes again to smile up at him. "How long have you been here?"

She just shrugs, not really feeling very talkative, but she  _ does _ whisper back, "Breakfast?"

"Sure," he chuckles. He carefully gets up, laying a pillow under Lex's head to replace his lap, and Hannah follows him into the kitchen. He makes her some peanut butter toast and a bowl of strawberries— her usual weekend preference.

"Love you, Daddy," Hannah mumbles quietly, munching on a strawberry.

"I love you, too, Pumpkin," he says, and kisses the top of her head. Lex comes wandering in after a few minutes, yawning and stretching. "Hey, Sunshine, how'd you sleep?"

She shrugs and sits on the stool next to Hannah, stealing a strawberry. "I'm kinda surprised I was still on the couch," she admits.

"I would've put you to bed, but I was asleep, too, until Hannah came in a few minutes ago," Ted says. Lex nods and shrugs, and rests her elbows on the counter so she can put her chin in her hands.

"Can I have some breakfast?" She asks, and Ted makes some more toast, this time the way he knows  _ she _ likes it. Lex steals another strawberry from Hannah, and this time it is received with a baleful look.

"We've got more, Pumpkin," Ted says with a chuckle, and grabs the container out of the fridge, washing a few more and putting them in the bowl. He serves Lex her toast, and she starts chowing down.

"I'm gonna head into town and run some errands," Ted announces. "Lexie's in charge— Ethan can come over, but don't get too distracted." This gets Hannah’s attention, and she looks up at her dad.

"Can I go with you, Daddy? Please?" she begs. "I promise I'll be good!"

"No, Pumpkin," Ted says, kissing the top of her head again. "It's for work." Hannah pouts, but accepts the answer. She goes back to her breakfast, ripping some of the darker bits off the bottom of her toast.

"Are you going to see Professor Hidgens by any chance?" Lex asks innocently, and her father's eyes widen just a fraction as he fights a blush.

"No," he says slowly, then clears his throat. "Like I said, this is for work. Did you need something from the professor?"

"I was gonna ask you to take something to Peter for me," Lex lies smoothly, smirking at her dad when Hannah can't see it. "But don't worry about it if you're not already going."

"What is it?" Ted sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’s not fooled in the slightest, but he’s willing to humor Lex— for  _ her _ sake, of course.

"He left his notebook in class," she says. "I was gonna give it back to him on Monday, but then you mentioned running errands and I thought maybe you could take it to him for me?"

Ted sighs again. "Sure. I can swing by and drop it off for him. Where is it now?"

"In my backpack— here." She gets up and digs through her bag. The pins on the front rattle against one another, briefly catching Hannah’s attention. Pulling out a plain black spiral notebook, she hands it to Ted. "Thanks, Dad!" she says cheerfully, smiling innocently, and goes back to finish her toast.

Ted just sighs again as he heads out the door, notebook in hand.

—————

Peter answers the door when the buzzer sounds off. Hidgens— Henry, he'd insisted— had taught him how to work the whole system. Ted Foster is standing at the gate, and Peter lets him in.

"Uh, Lex said you left this at school," Mr. Foster says, holding out a black spiral notebook that definitely doesn't belong to Peter. He takes it anyway.

"Henry isn't here," Peter says, catching Mr. Foster looking around like the professor might pop up from anywhere. "He's doing an extra lecture on campus for anyone who missed his classes on Thursday and Friday."

Peter thinks that Ted looks almost disappointed before it's quickly covered by polite disinterest.

"Oh, okay. Uh, tell him I said— I mean,  _ we— _ tell him we said hi," Ted stumbles through his words a little while trying to correct himself. He waves goodbye and bolts.

Peter snickers as he shuts the door with his foot, scratching a spot on his back. He opens up the notebook, and on the front page in big, bold letters is a note to him from Lex.

**WE NEED TO GET THEM TOGETHER.**

Peter smirks and can't help but agree. Setting the notebook on the table, he sinks into a chair next to it. He texts her with one hand, while trying to reach that spot on his back with the other.

_ << You couldn't have just texted me that? _

She responds a few seconds later.

_ >> Nope. Had 2 get my dad there lol _

_ << Didn’t really make a difference since Henry’s not even home.  _

_ >> Damn it _

Peter rolls his eyes and laughs, but it quickly turns to a frustrated growl. He goes back to the bedroom Henry’s letting him use and flings off his shirt.

_ Damn it  _ indeed— Peter really needs to get a new binder.


	5. Chapter 5: What If?

Back in college, Henry was still in the closet. No one knew that he liked guys just as well as girls (or anyone else in or out of the gender spectrum). No one except for Chad, which was why they fit so well together. From the moment they met, they both just knew that the other was at least a little bit like them, more than the rest of their friends were.

Which was why, about six months after meeting, Henry repeatedly found himself sneaking around with Chad— in and out of their friend group's shared home. They'd make out, have sex, do whatever it was they really felt like doing. Anything, that is,  _ except  _ for telling their friends.

Chad wanted to. Desperately. He didn't want to be in the closet his whole life— he was gay and proud of it. It wasn't that Henry wasn't proud of being pansexual, he'd just grown up in a very Catholic little town and was dead terrified of being rejected by his family and friends back home if they ever found him out. So in the closet they stayed together— sometimes even literally, if one of their friends came home earlier than expected.

Eventually, things had to change one way or another. For better or for worse, you might say.

In real life, it was certainly for the worse. Chad broke up with him, and ended up taking most of their friends with him. Everyone that lived with them, for sure. Henry moved across campus, by himself, and didn't leave his tiny apartment except for class or a quick grocery run. He changed his major from theatre to biology. He stopped auditioning for the new shows on campus. He re-dedicated his life to the pursuit of science instead of the arts. He locked away all semblance of a love life— not just the non-straight parts, but all of it.

He focused on getting all the way to a doctorate, and then he decided to teach others, so he moved back to Hatchetfield from grad-school and started teaching at the community college there. He was almost thirty by that point. 

He was 42 when he met Rebecca.

She was a student on campus— not one of his, good  _ God  _ no— but the roommate of one. She was 32 and had just decided to go back to school, double majoring in business and culinary arts. She wanted to own her own bakery. She'd come by Henry's office one afternoon, just as he was getting ready to leave, to inquire about the day's notes for her roommate who was very sick and couldn't make it to any of her classes. Henry had graciously printed out the slideshow— in color, even!— and given it to her, and then they got to talking.

Before either of them knew it, almost an hour had passed talking about her dream of owning a bakery. She'd blushed as she left, apologizing for taking up so much of his time, and he'd waved her off, saying it wasn't a problem and that he'd had nowhere to be but grading papers that he didn't want to do.

They became friends after that.  _ Just  _ friends. She'd bring him coffee some mornings, from the little shop she worked at downtown. He always had notes prepared in case her roommate missed class again— which she did, twice that semester, both for good reasons.

The following six semesters until she graduated were slightly different, since her roommate was no longer in his class, but the relationship dynamic didn't change. She'd bring him coffee, and they'd chat until one of them had to leave for class. Henry didn't even drink coffee before he met Rebecca, but he definitely did now.

The morning after her graduation, she brought him one last coffee, right to his apartment, and kissed him. He kissed her back, and invited her inside. They spent most of the day together, releasing all sorts of pent-up tension from the last three and a half years, and then she left. Not just his apartment, but the town itself altogether. Henry never saw her again, and he didn't date again after that, not for the last nearly eighteen years.

Now here he was, 63 and dreaming about the life he could've had with his first love, Chad. What if Henry hadn't been so scared about telling their friends about his sexuality?

In his dream, he and Chad are happy together for a few years, their friends surrounding them and supporting them. Until someone younger, hotter, more into the gym than the theatre, comes along and catches Chad's eye. He doesn't tell Henry about him, and Henry pretends not to know anyway. Until he can't anymore, when he catches the two of them in bed together— in  _ Henry and Chad's _ bed together. Chad and his new boyfriend leave.

Their friends follow Chad, and Henry is left more devastated than he was in real life. He hadn't changed his major, so he's stuck with a pretty useless theatre degree in a town with not a lot of options. He can't afford to go back to school, he can't afford to move out of town. He ends up working at a restaurant, drinking alone in his apartment on his nights off. When the Apotheosis inevitably comes, he embraces it even more whole-heartedly than he'd tried to in real life.

There's no one to stop him— in fact, Emma, Ted, and all their friends and family are already infected by the time he joins the Hive. Everyone except for Hannah, who cowers from him in an alleyway and begs Webby for help until her stomach and guts are ripped out by Henry's own hands. Then she looks up at him as her blood and organs turn bright blue, and smiles. They sing  _ Scales and Arpeggios _ from The Aristocats together.

He wakes up gasping for air, and stumbles to the bathroom. A cold shower wakes him up the rest of the way, keeps him from falling back to sleep— keeps him from falling back to that nightmare. 

It’s nearly three in the morning, and Henry has no desire to go back to bed. He redresses, and goes to his lab to busy himself, to take his mind off of it. 

If there’s one thing that can be said positively for that nightmare— not that Henry’s ever really considered himself an  _ optimist _ — he’s now grateful for the way his life had turned out after all.

—————

Ninety percent of the time, Ted considered himself pretty grateful for the life he had. A steady job, a nice house, two amazing daughters that he loved and who loved him. He had friends, even. The ex-wife part was not so nice, but he could deal with that as long as he still had the rest. 

All of this to say that he finds it pretty strange when he can't fall asleep one night, and when he finally does, he dreams of a life where he and Maddie stayed together.

It starts off simple enough: there's more arguing, more yelling, and more drinking on Maddie's part. Then she starts getting violent. With him, with Lex, with Hannah. One night it gets so bad that Ted has to rush Hannah to the hospital— but he's too late. Thanks to Maddie, Hannah's gone before the ambulance arrives, and it all looks like an accident.

Lex starts smoking after that, and one day Ted comes home to find a note from her that says she and Ethan ran away together. She doesn't say where, and signs the note with a crudely-drawn stick figure flipping him off.

He gets a call from the police a few days later, saying that both teens had died in a car accident two states over. Ted doesn't even cry. He just hangs up on the police officer.

Ted wakes up before he can react further, but he knows what he would've done. His heart is pounding as he goes first to Hannah's room, then to Lex's, to check on them both. Hannah is sound asleep, cuddling her stuffed dog, Charlie. She'd had him since she was just a couple months old, and still slept with him most nights. She said Webby gave him magic powers to chase away her bad dreams.

Lex is still awake, and it's both surprising and not surprising. She pretends to be asleep when Ted pokes his head in, but he can see the glow of her cellphone. He ignores it and closes her bedroom door again before going back to Hannah's room. The image of her lying so small and broken in his dream, unseeing eyes staring at him, was haunting him.

Ted carefully picks her up— Charlie and all— and carries her back to his room, laying her down in his bed and crawling in beside her. He curls around her protectively and slowly falls back to sleep, grateful for the way his life's turned out.

—————

Lex puts her phone down, finally deciding to try and get some sleep. The last few weeks have been so stressful, even before the almost-Apotheosis, that she’s been pulling all-nighters as often as she can. Less sleep equals less nightmares, right?

But now she doesn’t have to worry about seeing her mom again… except in those nightmares she’s been trying to avoid. Ethan’s the only one she’s told about them. He’s tried to help her through them, but there’s only so much he can do. 

For the first time in weeks (if not months), she actually has a  _ pleasant _ dream. 

She and Ethan are having a picnic at the park in downtown Hatchetfield— which is rather odd, considering their dates usually consist of pretending to go see a movie when they really just sit in the back of the theatre and make out (unless Hannah’s tagging along). 

In the dream, Lex spots Hannah running around, giggling as she’s being chased by their dad… and the professor. Lex almost doesn’t recognize him, given that he’s not wearing that turtleneck and blazer. He’s wearing one of the most casual  _ dad _ outfits imaginable. Cargo shorts and a brightly-colored Hawaiian shirt. At least he’s not wearing socks with sandals. 

It’s a little unsettling, she’ll think when she wakes up, but in the dream it feels perfectly normal. Peter’s lounging nearby with a book, his head in the lap of a girl Lex recognizes from school. She also recognizes Ethan’s cousin, Oliver, running around with Hannah. He’s the same age she is, and having a blast. 

Everyone’s happy, having some family fun on a warm summer day. There’s not a cloud in sight, and everything is peaceful— no threat of alcoholic mothers, or of a singing alien hivemind. Only a gentle breeze against her skin, and Ethan’s fingers through her hair. 

When she wakes up with her alarm, for once she wishes she could go back to sleep, to her dream. But Lex knows she has to get ready for school, so she drags herself out of bed to do so. 

By the time she finishes her shower, the dream is all but forgotten, lost in the deep recesses of her mind. One day, perhaps she’ll see it again. 

Webby will make sure she does.

(Not that Lex knows that.)


	6. Chapter 6: Stutter

Peter scratches nervously at that same spot on his back, as he waits for Henry to get home. It's been nearly two weeks since the almost-Apotheosis, and the proper authorities— Social Services, Peter thinks— finally got involved. Apparently they've been pretty swamped.

He's got all his stuff ready to go, just in case Henry says that they said he can't stay. Peter doesn't want to leave, he thinks Henry's pretty cool. But he's also a little scared. Peter knows he should tell—  _ has _ to tell— Henry the truth about him, before he'll really let himself stay. He can't afford that new binder himself, after all.

But how will Henry react?

Peter knows that even within the LBGT community, cis "LGB" people sometimes don't accept the "T" people like him. Thankfully, he doesn't know that from personal experience, but still. Very few people know about Peter— his mom had been one, before she died. She'd always supported him. His doctor and pharmacist both know, Alice knows— he doesn't think Deb knows, but he'd told Alice it was okay to tell her.

Peter paces in the dining room, glancing out the front window every time he turns. Finally— finally!— Henry pulls up outside and comes back inside, having manually unlocked his gate and front door.

"So?" Peter asks nervously.

"You'll be staying here until they can find you something more permanent," Henry announces. "They had to run a background check on me, which is why it took so long for me to get home. But since there's nothing to be found to say I wouldn't be a good home for you, they're allowing you to stay. Someone from Social Services will be by tomorrow morning to check on you themselves."

Peter nods, that part of his anxiety relieved. Henry seems to notice that he's still feeling some of it, though.

"What else are you worried about?" Henry asks gently, guiding Peter to sit at the table with him. "I'm sure whatever new home they find for you will be perfectly—"

"I wanna stay here," Peter blurts. "Permanently. With you. If that's okay."

Henry blinks, surprised. "I— I wasn't expecting that," he admits. "I've always wanted a family, but I never thought I'd get one. I'd be honored to be yours."

Peter nods, tearing up a little. "But there's something else I need to tell you first..."

Henry tilts his head, and digs through his pocket to pull out a prescription paper. "Does it have anything to do with this? The lady at Social Services gave it to me. She said it was important we got this refilled soon."

Peter flushes when he recognizes it, and nods mutely. Henry doesn't seem to be reacting one way or the other, and Peter's nervous to prompt him further.

"I'll make sure this gets called in quickly," Henry promises. He pats Peter's hand gently. "Is there anything else you need in relation to this? I'd be happy to help."

Peter slowly relaxes a little, and nods again. "Um... I need a new binder," he admits quietly. "The one I'm wearing is getting old, and there's a spot that always makes me itch on my back."

"Do you already know which one you want?" Henry asks, and Peter nods again.

"The same one I have now," he says. "Just... new."

Henry leads him down to the computer in his lab, and lets Peter show him the website and the exact binder. Then Henry goes and orders three of them, paying for them himself.

"Now you can alternate between them," Henry reasons. "They'll last longer that way." Peter hugs him tightly, trying not to cry. He and his mom had barely been able to afford the one he was wearing now, so this was nothing short of a miracle to him. 

Henry returns the hug, gently patting his back.

"Thank you," Peter says hoarsely. "Thank you so much..."

"You're quite welcome," Henry chuckles, as Peter pulls away. "Now, I need to go call Social Services and inform them that we'd both like for you to stay permanently."

They both leave the lab— Henry heads to the kitchen to make his phone call, and Peter heads to his room to lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling while he processes everything that had just happened.

—————

The next day, the social worker stops by, carrying all the paperwork necessary for Peter's adoption with her. Henry goes through and fills it out quickly, and Peter watches in nervous excitement, while the social worker gives herself a tour of the house.

"And which is your room?" she asks Peter, and he goes to show her.

"He said we're gonna go out today so I can decorate it however I want," he tells her. "And we still have to get the rest of my stuff from my— my mom's house. What's gonna happen to the rest of it?"

"As your new legal guardian, Dr. Hidgens will be in charge of its contents, and then the house will be put up for sale by the bank," the woman says. "I think their usual deadline is a month."

She leaves Peter in his room to process the information, and heads back to Henry. He's just signed the last page, and gives her the whole stack. She goes through it to make sure he didn't miss anything, then bids him a good day and leaves.

Henry goes to Peter's room and grins at him with pride. Peter smiles back, getting brighter when Henry tells him that it's official. To celebrate, they head to the car and go get lunch before doing their shopping for Peter's room.

They start with getting him a new mattress, actually— Henry had mentioned that every bed except his own needed a new one, and he hadn't been kidding. Then Peter picks out a bedspread, opting for a navy blue and bright orange striped quilt. They get curtains and a rug, a desk lamp, a swivel desk chair, and some new shelving. At the paint store, Peter goes for the navy blue to match the quilt.

Back at the house, they move all the current stuff to the center of the room and start painting. While they wait for it to dry, Henry makes dinner, and that night Peter sleeps in one of the other bedrooms. The next day, they both have school, so they can't do anything else until that evening.

By the time it's all said and done, Peter is very happy with the way his new room's turned out. His new binders come in the mail later that week, and he puts the old one in the back of his closet. Part of him wants to throw it away— it's not like he'll probably ever use it again— but he can't bring himself to. It reminds him too much of his mom.

Either way, he's happier than he has been in a while when he goes back to school the next day. His friends and teachers all notice, but only his friends— Lex, Ethan, and Deb— ask him about it. He finally feels confident enough to tell them, so he does so at lunch that day.

Casually.

Kind of.

"Henry got me a new binder," he says. "Three of them, actually."

Only Deb seems to know what he means right away. "That's awesome! Do they fit well?" That clues in Lex, but not Ethan.

"Doesn't paper usually come in, like, a standard size?" Ethan asks, confused. Lex nudges him.

"Not that kind of binder," she whispers. "The kind to flatten boobs." Realization dawns on Ethan's face and he blushes.

"Oh... sorry," he chuckles in embarrassment.

Peter just shrugs with a small grin. "It's fine," he says. "That's probably the funniest response I've ever heard, honestly. And yes, Deb. They all fit amazingly. Super comfortable."

"So..." Lex trails off, clearly not wanting to ask a wrong or rude question.

"Yes," Peter replies knowingly. "I'm trans. My mom knew, she bought me my old binder. I've been taking testosterone supplements for a year, and no: please don't ask if I'm getting any surgeries, because I actually haven't decided yet."

"I'm proud of you," Deb says with a grin, patting his shoulder.

Peter grins, proud of himself.

“I’ve actually been thinking about getting one for myself,” Deb admits. “But I dunno… I know my parents probably wouldn’t go for it.”

“Are you trans, too?” Peter asks, not sure if the answer will be a surprise to him or not. He can really see Deb leaning either way.

She shakes her head, though. “Nah… at least, I don’t think so. I just hate my chest, that’s all.” The group devolves into an unashamed discussion of the pros and cons of having breasts-- well, Peter and the girls do. Ethan keeps his mouth shut.


	7. Chapter 7: To Have a Home

Ethan loves his mom, really. He does.

He just finds it very annoying when she constantly hovers over him in the weeks following the almost-Apotheosis. Ever since his step-dad left last year, actually.

He'd been pretty cool, actually. Cool enough to buy Ethan his first leather jacket, cool enough that Ethan wanted to take his last name, Green. Max and Beck had been married for eight years, together for three before that. But then Max had left them, quite abruptly, for another woman. And ever since, Beck had been a bit overprotective of Ethan.

She started enforcing a stricter curfew— before it had been 11PM on weekends, 10PM on school nights. Now it was an  _ hour and a half _ earlier for each. It certainly made taking Lex on dates more difficult.

And the day after the almost-Apotheosis? Jesus H Christ, his mom had been freaking. The fuck.  _ Out _ . Even telling her where'd been— safe, with Lex and her family at a biology professor's house on the edge of town— didn't help. If anything, it seemed to make her freak out even  _ more _ for a few minutes. But she did, eventually, calm down.

Today, Lex and Hannah ware coming over after school. His mom loves them, especially Hannah. Beck has a way with small children, and she often volunteers to watch her for a bit so Ethan can take Lex on their dates. Not tonight, though. Tonight Beck was insisting that the Foster girls come over for dinner.

"Hi, Lex," Beck says warmly, hugging Ethan's girlfriend as she lets herself in. Hannah trails shyly behind her, and Beck gasps like she hasn't seen the girl in years. "Hannah Banana, is that you? Look how big you're getting!"

Hannah giggles a little, and hugs Beck.

"Okay," Beck says, pulling away and standing back up. "We don't have mac and cheese tonight—" Hannah frowns a little, and Beck smirks. "But that's because we're having spaghetti and meatballs."

Hannah immediately perks back up. Lex huffs out a laugh at her sister's reaction, as Ethan comes over and kisses her on the cheek.

"Hey, babe," he whispers in her ear, and Lex kisses his cheek back.

"Hey," she says, too.

Ethan's mom leads the three of them to the kitchen table, and serves up their plates for them. "So how's school going, Lex?" She asks.

Lex hesitates slightly. "It's... it's okay. Most of my classes are fine, but I've got this one teacher that's just— ugh. He's really impatient, always grumpy, and just kind of gives me bad vibes, you know? Half the class is failing, and I'm right on the edge of it. I hate him."

Beck nods sympathetically. "We've all had teachers like that," she says. "He's clearly not doing his job to teach if half his students are failing his class. You should talk to the principal."

Lex shakes her head and says, "We can't, not really. He has tenure. He's been teaching at Hatchetfield High for like, fifty years."

"Oh, Mr. Donner?" Beck winces, and Lex nods. "The US History teacher? I had him... I was so excited for that class until I found out I was getting him instead of the other one we had at the time, Mrs... oh, what was her name? Poe, I think?"

"She retired last year," Ethan says. "Mr. Donner clearly needs to. He's like, eighty."

"I like my teacher," Hannah pipes up. "Her name's Miss Jefferson, and she's really nice. She only gets mad at the kids who really deserve it."

"Lucky you," Lex teases her.

They eat dinner, continuing to chat about school— other classes and teachers, their friends—

"Oh!" Lex almost drops her fork when she remembers. "Alice is moving in with her dad! I totally forgot to tell you earlier— Deb was telling me all about it. After what happened a few weeks ago, she and her mom have been arguing a lot, so they all finally agreed it would be best for Alice to come back to Hatchetfield permanently."

"Alice... Alice Jones?" Beck asks, and all three kids nod.

"Does that mean she'll be my babysitter again when you guys are busy?" Hannah asks hopefully. Excitement shines in her eyes— Alice had always been her favorite, other than Lex and Ethan themselves.

"Probably," Lex says, shrugging, but she's smiling, too. She turns to Ethan. "And now that Peter's sitting with us at lunch, we'll need to find a bigger table for Alice, too."

There's a few moments of silence after Ethan agrees, where the only sound is them eating.

"So what are you planning for Halloween, Hannah?" Beck asks, grabbing another slice of garlic bread.

"'M gonna be Belle!" Hannah says cheerfully. "With the gold dress, because that's when she becomes a princess!"

"Is that all it takes for someone to be a princess?" Beck teases. "A gold dress?"

Hannah giggles and shakes her head. "Just some of 'em. If they aren't  _ born _ a princess," she clarifies, "they either have to marry a prince or wear a really fancy dress and damce with one. Then they become a princess! That's how Disney works!"

Lex and Ethan snicker at the five-year old's logic. Beck shakes her head slightly as she tries not to do the same.

"I guess you're right," Beck allows. "Do you already have your costume? You know... I used to make costumes back in high school and college for the drama department. I could make you a really fancy gold dress if you want."

Hannah's eyes light up as she looks to Lex. "Can she? Please, Lexie?"

"That's not up to me," Lex says, laughing. "That's your guys' choices. Do you want her to make the dress?"

Hannah nods, looking back to Ethan's mom. "Will you, please?" She uses her puppy dog eyes, but there's no need.

"Of course, Hannah Banana," she chuckles. "I'd be happy to. Will you let me measure you once we're done eating?" Hannah nods again, and starts to wolf down her last few bites.

Beck takes the all four dishes to the sink, then takes Hannah upstairs to take measurements. While the teens wait, they move to the couch in the living room, and Lex decides to tell Ethan about her plan.

"I'm gonna meddle in my dad's love life," she announces, and Ethan almost chokes on his soda.

After coughing it out, he weakly says, "Maybe we shouldn't—"

"Oh, I'm  _ gonna _ meddle," Lex says confidently, and it almost sounds like a threat— to Ethan, or to her own dad, he wasn't sure.

"Do you already know who you're gonna set him up with?" Ethan asks, sighing. He knows better than try to deter his girlfriend when she sets her mind to something like this.

"Dr. Hidgens," Lex reveals, and there's a small crash from upstairs, then Hannah's giggling. Both teens freeze, waiting to see if they're called for, but resume the conversation when a few moments pass and there's nothing.

"I thought you said he was kinda weird about your dad," Ethan, says, confused. "That there was something off about him."

"I know you were joking when you said maybe he thought my dad was hot," Lex says, "but I think you were right. And Peter thinks so, too. My dad definitely gets all flustered whenever Hannah or I talk about the professor, and Peter says that he did the same thing when he took Peter my notebook and found out Dr. Hidgens wasn't home."

"Why would he— never mind," Ethan mumbles. Lex probably planned the whole thing as either a test or first attempt at getting the two men together.

"Peter  _ also _ said that Dr. Hidgens gets a little flustered whenever Dad gets mentioned," Lex adds in a conspiratorial whisper.

Ethan rolls his eyes a little, more amused than annoyed, and asks, "So do you guys have a plan, or are you still trying to figure that out?"

"We have  _ most _ of a plan," Lex admits. "Hannah's part of it, since she and Dr. Hidgens are so fond of each other already. She's gonna bug Dad a lot about going to visit the professor, and you and I are always gonna be busy when she wants to go."

"Busy?" Ethan smirks, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Lex laughs and shoves his shoulder playfully.

"Like datenights, or too much homework," she says, still laughing. " _ Maybe _ what you're thinking,  _ sometimes _ , if you're lucky." She winks at him.

"Oh, I think that would make me very lucky," he teases her, kissing her cheek, and Lex blushes slightly. "What else is there to your plan, other than trying to force your dad to be the one to take Hannah to go see the professor— if he even says yes to that to begin with?"

"Peter's working something out on his end," Lex says, shrugging. "He said he'll text me when he has a plan."

Hannah comes racing back down the stairs, Beck following at a more reasonable pace, laughing to herself.

"I'm gonna be a princess!" Hannah shouts gleefully.

"Don't you have to dance with a prince in your fancy dress first?" Lex asks, and Hannah climbs into her lap with a small, brief frown. Then she perks up again with an idea.

"I could dance with Ethan!" She suggests, looking to him with her puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not a prince, Banana," he chuckles.

"You're close enough for Lexie," the five year old says innocently. "Daddy says that when she was my age, she used to say she was gonna marry a prince one day, and now you two are—"

"Okay!" Lex says quickly, standing and picking Hannah up in the process. "We should probably get going— we all have school in the morning. Don't we, Hannah?"

Hannah nods. Ethan and his mom walk their guests to the door, the former with a wicked blush on his cheeks.

"Um, I'll see you tomorrow, babe," he says quietly, and kisses Lex's cheek one more time.

"Yep," she says, just as quiet. "I'll text you as soon as Peter tells me his plan."

The girls leave, and Beck closes the front door.

"What plan?" She asks her son.

Ethan shrugs a little. "Lex is trying to set her dad up with the biology professor we stayed with a couple weeks back. She thinks they both seem interested in each other, so she's getting me, Hannah, and Peter involved."

"Peter who? Why him?" Beck asks. She hasn't heard of this 'Peter' kid before tonight.

"Uh, Peter Robinson," Ethan clarifies. "He's been staying with the professor because his mom died during the— the blackout, and has nowhere else to go. Dr. Hidgens actually adopted him last week."

"So if their plan works, they'll be step-siblings," Beck says, amused. She freezes for a moment, as though she's just realized something. "I need to go finish the dishes and get started on Hannah's dress!" She dashes off, and Ethan chuckles.

The things people do for that little girl...


	8. Chapter 8: The Way I Do

Emma didn't know why she was so incredibly nervous. It was just Paul. They'd already survived an almost-apocalypse— sorry, Apotheosis— together. They'd been flirting back and forth over his coffee at Beanie's for months before that, even if Paul had been pretty bad at it and neither of them had even known the other's name.

It was just a date.

One date, nothing fancy.

Just a casual first date between two of the only people in town who actually remembered what happened during what was being called The Blackout. That was one of the reasons they'd agreed to avoid the movie theater.

Maybe Emma was nervous because they'd already had to reschedule not once, but twice. First, Nora had called her in for an extra shift because Zoey was so sick— she'd somehow lost her voice during the Blackout, and still hadn't recovered, the poor thing (insert Emma's eye roll here)— and the second was because Paul realized he had a weekend business conference he had to go to once he'd gotten his old boss's job.

But now they were finally getting to go on that date, and the only thing Emma could think about was  _ oh God, what if I fuck this up? _ Emma really likes Paul, and she really doesn't want to fuck things up with him. Her mom had always said to find someone with shared life experiences, and that was the best partner you can have. And who better has shared life experience nowadays than Paul? Not to mention the fact that she and Paul were already attracted to each other beforehand.

Paul picks her up from her apartment, and takes her to dinner.

"How was your week?" He asks, sounding just as nervous as Emma feels.

She fiddles with her necklace while she answers. "It was— uh, it was okay," she says. "Classes are going fine, but work is still a pain in my ass. I tried asking Nora again to get rid of the stupid fucking 'tip for a song' thing, but she still won't budge. I guess I can't really blame her, since she doesn't remember what happened, but still. It's annoying as fuck."

"You could quit again," Paul suggests. "Go work at Starbucks like you'd said you would that day."

"I'm seriously tempted," she admits. "But I'm not sure if Nora would giving me a good recommendation to them."

"I'll do it," Paul grins, and Emma huffs a small laugh.

"I don't think Starbucks would count that," she says quietly, still smiling. She changes the subject. "So how are Ted and his kids doing? You know, I still can't believe 'the Borat guy' from Beanie's is such a good dad. Even after seeing him in action with the little one— Hannah, right?— I'm just like... wow."

"Uh, yeah," Paul chuckles. "They're fine, I think. He hasn't really talked much since then, but I think they're all okay." He pulls into a parking space, turning off his car. Neither makes any move to get out yet.

"You know..." he says quietly. "That's something I want, one day. Maybe not soon, but eventually."

"A family?" Emma asks, unsure how to feel about this as a first-date conversation, and Paul nods.

"I'm sorry if this is too soon to talk about it—" he starts, but Emma interrupts.

"No! It's— it's okay," she says, surprising even herself. "Um, it's something that needs to be talked about, you know? We should both know going into this what the other person wants out of life. So we don't get any unrealistic expectations of each other."

"Exactly," Paul says, clearly relieved. "I'm not trying to rush anything, or scare you off, or do something like that. I just want you to know— both of us to know— what to expect down the road."

Emma smiles softly. "Good. Me, too. I mean the— the knowing thing. I actually, uh, haven't decided if I want kids or not."

"That's okay," Paul says encouragingly. "You should definitely focus on school first— if that's what you want to do, I mean. Not that you have to listen to what I'm telling you you should or shouldn't do, it's your life—"

Emma interrupts him again, but this time with a gentle kiss. Paul's clearly surprised at first, but he kisses her back. After a few moments of it, they both pull away, blushing like teenagers, and grin at each other.

"Um... dinner?" He asks, and Emma nods.

"Dinner," she agrees.

They both get out of the car and head inside the little diner. They talk about other things while they eat, staying far away from the subject of their futures and desires for it.

"And then Nora told him to get out of my face before she called the cops," Emma says, laughing a little.

"Really?" Paul asks. "I thought you said she hated you— or that she didn't care, or whatever."

"She doesn't, not really," Emma says with a shrug. "She can be okay sometimes. Like when a customer is clearly crossing a line. Zoey, though. Ugh. Zoey's just a bratty pain in the ass all the time."

Paul nods sympathetically. "There's this intern at the office who's kinda like that. Catherine, I think. She acts like she knows better than the rest of us, even though she's still in school, and we've all been doing this for years."

"Oof," she winces. "And how's Bill and his daughter?"

"Bill's great!" Paul says cheerfully. "He actually got full custody of Alice this past week, so she's moving in with him tomorrow. I said I'd help out. And he and Deb are finally getting along, too. He told me that apparently, she's just a little shy— which I already knew, because Alice told me, but you know. Bill didn't really believe her until he saw it for himself."

"Well I'm glad for them," Emma says. "Let me know if you guys need more help, okay? I'm pretty good at that stuff."

After dinner, they head back out to the car, but they linger by the passenger side door. Paul has one hand on the handle, prepared to be a total gentleman and open the door for her, but Emma stops him. She leans up on her tip-toes and pulls him down to meet her in the middle for another kiss. Paul lets go of the door and wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly to him. This one lasts longer than the first, and when they pull away, it's to breathe.

"My roommate's staying with her girlfriend all weekend," Emma says quietly.

"Okay," Paul says, nodding as he understands exactly what she's implying.

He opens the passenger door for Emma, then closes it behind her before hurrying around to the driver's side. He just barely stays within the speed limit, and takes Emma back to her apartment. He'd had something else planned for their date, but that could wait for another time. This? This couldn't.

—————

The next morning, Paul wakes up in an unfamiliar room, with Emma wrapped tightly in his arms. His phone's ringing, and he rolls onto his back to reach blindly for it. He answers it.

"Hello?" He asks sleepily.

"Paul, where are you?" Bill's voice says. "I'm waiting outside your apartment. I've buzzed like six times."

Paul shoots upright in Emma's bed. "Shoot! I'm so sorry, Bill, I kinda forgot— I'm not at home right now. I can be there in ten minutes, though."

"Where are you?" Bill repeats, and there's a moment of silence before he figures it out himself and laughs. "I guess things went pretty good with Emma, then?"

Paul blushes as he craddles the phone with his shoulder, trying to tug his pants back on. "Um, yeah... really good. Dinner was great, you know?"

"And what about after?" Bill teases.

"I think you can guess," Paul chuckles nervously. "I'm gonna let you go— Emma offered to help today, is it okay if I bring her?"

"The more the merrier," Bill says. "Alice's friends are going to meet us at the house to help unpack. She doesn't know yet— Deb wants it to be a surprise."

"Okay," Paul says, nodding to himself. "I'm just gonna wake Emma up then, and we'll be on our way." He hangs up on his best friend, and finishes getting dressed before gently shaking Emma's shoulder. She wakes up with an incoherent mumble.

"Bill just called," Paul says softly. "He's waiting outside my apartment so we can go help Alice move in with him, remember? He said you can come, too, if your offer's still open."

That gets Emma's attention, and she nods as she sits up. Paul tries not to stare as she gets dressed, but he doesn't do a very good job of it. They head over to his apartment, then Bill leads them across the bridge into Clivesdale so they can help Alice pack and move out of her mother's house there.


	9. Chapter 9: The Coolest Girl(s)

Hannah bounces in her seat as Lex drives them to the mall. They're going to meet Alice and Deb for a girls' afternoon together, and Hannah was so excited when they'd invited her along. Lex had promised lunch, painted nails, and ice cream. Deb and Alice had promised a surprise.

The sisters get to the mall, and Lex gives Hannah a piggyback ride as they go inside to find the others in the food court. The pass Toy Zone on their way, where Lex works part-time, and Lex says hi to one of her coworkers. They get to the food court, and immediately Hannah spots Alice and Deb waiting at a table in the middle of the court.

"Hey there, sweet pea!" Alice says, as Hannah jumps down from her sister's back to hug her and Deb.

"Hi, Alice!" Hannah says excitedly. "I'm so glad you got to come back to live with your daddy, 'cause that means I can see you more often! Are you gonna babysit me again now that you're back?"

Alice giggles, picking up the five year old and swinging her around. "Only if your daddy asks me to," she says.

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Lex says with a laugh. "If he ever calls you asking you to take Hannah to Dr. Hidgens' house, tell him you're busy."

"What? Why?" Deb asks.

"We have a plan— me, Hannah, Peter, and Ethan— to get Dad and Hidgens together because they obviously like each other," Lex says, smirking. "Hannah's kinda like the bait to draw them together, and the rest of us have to stay clear to make sure Dad's the one to take her."

"Assuming he even says she can go to begin with," Alice points out.

"I can be very annoying," Hannah says proudly. "And if I use my puppy eyes, Daddy can't say 'no' for very long!"

All three teens laugh at that. It was true. Very few people were immune to Hannah's puppy dog eyes, and their father was not one of them. Lex lets her sister climb back on for another piggyback ride, and the group picks a place to order and gets in line. Hannah insists on the Cinnabon, but it looks like something weird's going on there with another customer, so they decide to avoid it altogether.

They end up going to the pizza place on the other end of the court, and stand off to the side while waiting for their food. They talk about school a bit, as well as friends and family.

"My mom's decided to go back to school," Deb says. "She wants to be an actual vet instead of a tech."

"That sounds cool!" Lex says. "When is she gonna start?"

"Next fall," Deb replies. She's holding Alice's hand, until their food is ready. She insists on carrying the tray with all of their food on it, so Alice grabs the bottle drinks. They find a new table, since the old one's already been reclaimed by someone else.

They sit and talk about movies they're excited to see, movies they've already seen and love, and TV shows as well. Eventually, when they're all done eating, they clean up and head for the nail salon. This time, Hannah walks alongside them instead of being carried. She holds Alice's hand and babbles about Disney.

"My favorite princess is either Belle or Ariel," she says. "Ethan's mommy is making me a gold dress so I can be Belle for Halloween! She said it's gonna be really fancy!"

"Wow!" Alice says, listening attentively. "I wish I had a fancy gold dress."

Hannah gasps. "Maybe she can make you one, too!"

"I'll have to ask her," Alice giggles. She won't ask, but it satisfies Hannah.

"I also really like the movies that aren't about princesses— like Aristocats and Peter Pan and Robin Hood and the Jungle Book and—" Hannah keeps listing other Disney movies until they get to the nail salon, then goes silent as she heads straight over to the rack of nail polish.

"Four manicures," Lex tells the employee quietly. "I'm paying for mine and hers—" she points to Hannah, who's picked out a bright turquoise.

"And I'm paying for the other two," Alice adds. Deb tries to protest, but Alice won't hear it. "You paid for my lunch, babe."

Deb huffs but doesn't argue further, and the three teens go to pick out their own colors. Lex goes for a dark purple, Deb goes for black, and Alice picks out bubblegum pink.

"Thank you guys for inviting me and Hannah," Lex says. "I don't get to do this kind of thing very often, if ever..."

"We should definitely do it more often," Alice says. "Not necessarily the mani's, but like... just hanging out, us girls!"

"We should invite Rachel and Sofie next time," Deb says, and Alice smiles and nods cheerfully.

Hannah goes quiet again at that. She doesn't do well with strangers— small interactions, like letting the lady paint her nails, was one thing. But hanging out with the same stranger all day? The almost-Apothy-thingy was a nightmare for Hannah in more than the obvious ways.

While they wait for their nails to dry, the teens talk more about their other friends, and Hannah watches the TV that's playing the cooking channel there in the salon. Some kind of competition. Hannah doesn't watch enough TV other than her cartoons to know what show is playing.

Afterward, the group heads a few stores down to the ice cream parlor. Hannah gets cookie dough, her favorite, and Lex gets Rocky Road. Deb and Alice share a cookies and cream milkshake.

"So tell me more about this match-making plan of yours," Deb says as she takes a sip through her straw. Alice nods, leaning forward.

"Well, our side is pretty easy," Hannah says.

"Banana here is gonna bug our dad about going to visit Dr. Hidgens," Lex explains. "And he's probably gonna ask me to take her, but I'm always gonna be busy with Ethan. If my dad calls one of you guys, you gotta be busy, too." Deb and Alice nod, agreeing to do it.

"You said Peter was in on it?" Alice asks.

"Yeah," Lex says. "He's gonna start by texting me when Dr. Hidgens is home, that way we can time things right with Hannah. He said he's also gonna try a few things himself to try and get Dr. Hidgens to make a move on Dad."

"So all we have to do is refuse to take Hannah to the professor's house?" Alice checks, and Lex confirms it.

"That sounds like an absolutely brilliant and devious plan," Deb says, smirking. "Or at least the start of one. How are you gonna get them to actually, you know, get together?"

"Still working on that," Lex admits. "Right now we're gonna focus on getting them more exposed to each other, then we'll get them to talk about that stuff."

They finish their ice cream, and start saying their goodbyes. Lex carries Hannah back to the car and buckles her in the carseat, then drives them home. Ted's still doing catch-up work, though not as much as he's needed to do in the last few weeks.

"How was it?" Ted asks, closing his laptop when they come in.

"We had fun!" Lex says, beaming.

Hannah shows off her sparkly turquoise nails, and Ted 'oohs' and 'ahs' at them. "What about you, Sunshine?" He asks Lex.

Lex shows him the dark purple she'd picked, and Ted grins.

"Just like that bracelet you gave me," he says. "Back when you were... oh, I guess about nine or ten?"

"I was ten," Lex says quietly. "You gave me that bracelet kit for my tenth birthday. I made you that bracelet first thing, and you wore it until it broke a week later."

"You were devastated," Ted chuckles. "I still have the pieces, though." Lex tears up, and rushes forward to hug her dad.

"I love you," she mumbles, and Ted hugs her back tightly and says it, too.


	10. Chapter 10: Listen to Your Heart

One month after the almost-Apotheosis, Lex wakes her sister up from her afternoon nap and tells her that today's the day.

"We've been trying to do this for over a week," Lex whispers. "Today we're gonna make sure Dad takes you. Peter said this week is the college's fall break, too, so today being the one month anniversary is perfect!"

"What are you gonna be doing?" Hannah asks, still a little sleepy.

"Ethan's coming over in an hour," Lex says. "We're gonna go on a double date with Alice and Deb to go see a scary movie." Hannah nods, and almost goes back to sleep, but Lex doesn't let her. "C'mon, Banana, don't you wanna go see Dr. Hidgens?"

That gets the girl's attention, and she reluctantly gets up. Lex carries her out to the living room, where their dad is watching the news.

"It's been a month since the event we've come to know as The Blackout, and we're finally getting some answers," the anchor is saying. "Investigators are saying that the meteor that crashed into the Starlight Theatre at the beginning of it may have ruptured a gas-line that caused the town's memory loss. There are some who believe it all to be a hoax, or a cover-up of some sort, but—"

Ted quickly turns the TV off when he sees the girls emerge from the hallway.

"Hey, girls," he says. "How was your nap, Pumpkin?" Hannah shrugs, and Lex sets her down on the couch next to their dad.

"She's asking to go see Dr. Hidgens again," Lex tells him. "Because it's been a month."

Ted sighs. "Hannah..."

"Please, Daddy?" Hannah uses her puppy dog eyes, sticking her lower lip out. "Wanna go see him..."

"Lex, can you—?"

Lex is already shaking her head. "Ethan's gonna be here in less than an hour. We're meeting Deb and Alice for a movie at 4:15."

Ted groans and rubs his hands over his face. Hannah lays dramatically across his lap, with her face tilted up at him.

"Please, Daddy? Pretty please?" She begs. Lex bites her tongue, and has her fingers crossed behind her back.

"Fine," Ted sighs. "But you're not going in your pajamas. You've been wearing those all day."

Hannah squeals and jumps up, hugging Ted and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"I'll get her dressed," Lex chuckles, and takes Hannah back to her room. Once the door is closed behind them, they high five. Lex quickly helps Hannah get dressed into some fuzzy leggings and a little dress with the Aristocats on it, then takes her back out to their dad, who hasn't moved.

"C'mon, Daddy!" Hannah whines.

He grumbles playfully, and starts putting his shoes on slowly to tease the five year old, who doesn't appreciate it. He finally gets them on, and Hannah drags him out the door to the car.

Lex watches them go, laughing to herself. She texts Peter first, then her other friends.

_ << It's go time! _

—————

Peter's phone buzzes in his pocket, and he jumps up from his desk chair when he reads the text from Lex. He reorganizes the stuff on his desk, putting his notebooks away hurriedly, and texts Lex back.

_ << Should I give Henry a heads up? _

There's a few moments before she texts back and says,

_ >> Sure! Just don't let him chicken out and leave! _

_ << Oh of course not! _

Peter puts on his binder before leaving his room. Since it was fall break, he hasn't been wearing it as much, unless he was going out to meet up with Lex and the others. Since Mr. Foster and Hannah were coming here, Peter decides to wear it. Henry's out in the living room, watching the news reports on what supposedly happened the month before.

"What bullshit," he mumbles to himself before apparently noticing Peter. "Pardon my language, Peter."

"It's fine," he says. "Trust me, I've heard much worse at school." Henry chuckles and nods. There's a few moments where the only sound is the news on the TV.

"Oh, um... Lex Foster just texted me," Peter says, as though he's just remembering. "She said Hannah's been itching to come see you, and their dad finally agreed to bring her over. The two of them are on their way now."

Henry jumps up. "What?!"

Peter tries not to laugh at the flustered way Henry's moving about, trying to tidy up what's already neat and clean.

"Should we invite them to stay for dinner?" Henry asks. "How long are they planning on staying? What time is it?"

"It's not even three o'clock yet," Peter says calmly. "I don't think we'll really need to worry about dinner..."

Henry nods, taking a deep breath. "Right... sorry," he says. "I don't usually get visitors, let alone warnings that they're coming over."

"Based on what I heard about how last month started for you, I get it," Peter snickers to himself. He sits down on the couch and relaxes. He wonders what it will take to actually get Henry and Mr. Foster to talk about their obvious infatuations with each other, and not just dance around the subject.

Peter's mind keeps drifting back to his notebook while he waits for Hannah and her father to show up. He knows he should be figuring out the next step of the plan— figuring out how to keep the five year old entertained while the adults are left to their own devices— but he can't stop thinking about his story.

He's finally able to focus when the gate buzzes. Henry goes to inquire— better safe than sorry about who exactly's at your door, even if you're expecting company— and the next thing Peter knows, there's a five year old running at him.

"Hi, Hannah," Peter says, hugging her. She says hi back, and climbs on the couch to sit next to him.

"What're we gonna do while they talk?" She asks quietly.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Peter suggests, grabbing one at random.

—————

Hannah bounces on her feet as she waits for Dr. Hidgens to let her and her daddy in. As soon as the door opens, she hugs the professor and grins up at him.

"Hi!" She says excitedly. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, Sweetheart," Dr. Hidgens chuckles, crouching to hug her back. Hannah pulls away and bolts into the house, leaving Ted and the professor standing on the porch.

She goes to the living room and sees Peter. He's wearing sweatpants and a teeshirt— way different than the last time she'd seen him, when he'd been wearing a button-up and a bowtie— and hugs her.

"What're we gonna do while they talk?" She whispers conspiratorially, and he chuckles.

"Wanna watch a movie?" He asks, getting up and grabbing one off the shelf. He's picked Snow White, and Hannah nods.

He puts the movie in, and settles back on the couch next to her. Hannah curls into his side.

"If this works," he whispers to her, "you could be my little sister. Would you want that?"

Hannah looks up at him, eyes wide. She hadn't really thought about that. "Will you still be like my brother even if it doesn't?"

Peter shrugs. "Not technically, but we could still hang out if you want." Hannah nods.

"Always wanted a brother," she mumbles, turning back to the TV. "I love Lexie, but a big sister isn't the same as a big brother. I'd love to have both."

"Well if your dad and m— and Henry get together, you'll have both one day," Peter assures her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders as they watch the movie.

Snow White runs away and gets lost in the woods, scared of every shadow and shape until she faints. The next morning she's surrounded by friendly animals and everything looks better in the morning light. Hannah hides her face during the night scene; all those eyes watching Snow White are scary. She also hides her face a little later, when the Evil Queen finds out that the princess isn't really dead. Peter laughs quietly and holds her close.

Hannah can hear her daddy talking in the other room. He and Dr. Hidgens are laughing about something or another. Hannah tilts her head up to smile excitedly at Peter, and he looks down and winks at her.

_ It's working, _ he mouths, and she nods.

Snow White ends soon enough, and Hannah hops up to go pick out another movie, but Peter stops her. "Do you wanna go color or something instead?" He asks. Hannah can tell he has another reason for asking, but doesn't want to pry.

Hannah shrugs. "Do have markers?"

Peter nods, and takes her to his bedroom. They pass the adults on the way— both of whom are sitting at the dining table, chatting and laughing still. Peter gives her an empty notebook and his school markers, letting her sit at his desk to color in it.

He grabs another notebook and starts writing.

—————

Ted sighs when Hannah runs off into the house after such a brief 'hello' to Dr. Hidgens.

"I guess when she said she wanted to see you, she actually meant she wanted to see Peter," Ted chuckles, and the professor stands back up, dusting himself off.

"It would appear so," he says. "Please, um, come in. How are... things? How are you settling back into daily life after what happened?"

"My ex-wife has officially lost all visitation rights, and has been arrested on charges of child endangerment," Ted says quietly, as the pair go inside.

Dr. Hidgens perks up at the news. "That's wonderful— not that it's good that she hurt your children, I mean that it's going to stop. How are the girls taking it?"

"I knew what you meant," Ted laughs. "And they're both doing a lot better now that they don't have to worry about seeing Maddie again." He sits down at the dining table.

"Can I get you anything?" Dr. Hidgens offers, "Something to drink? Or a snack, if you're hungry?" Ted thinks he seems almost nervous.

"Uh, no thanks," he says awkwardly. "And I'm sorry for just dropping by unannounced. Hannah's been begging for almost two weeks, and I finally had a chance to actually bring her by. I probably should've called to see if you were okay with it first."

The professor waves off his apology. "Don't worry about it. I do enjoy company, I'm just not quite used to it. I've been having to remind myself every morning that Peter lives here now." They both laugh at that.

"And how's that going, professor?" Ted asks.

"Oh please, call me Henry," the professor says, and Ted thinks he sees the barest hint of a blush on the other man's face. "And I think it's going quite well. Peter seems to like it here. And I've found I like having him around. I never really realized how lonely I was before."

"Kids will do that to ya," Ted agrees. "No matter how long you've had 'em, you'll always remember the time you didn't and wonder how you ever managed it. Of course, you'll also be trying to figure out how the hell you're managing life  _ with _ them, too, so..."

Ted laughs at his own words, and the prof—  _ Henry _ — laughs, too. Ted tries to fight the blush as he realizes how much he likes the sound of it, and wonders what else he could do to elicit it in the future. He clears his throat.

"So how're classes?" He asks.

Henry calms down and says, "Well it's fall break at the moment. My students were about as attentive as ever before and during midterms. Except for Emma. She's been excelling— not that she wasn't doing well before, but now she's putting in extra effort."

"I overheard her tell Paul she wanted to start a pot farm," Ted says, chuckling again, and Henry nods.

"Yes, I believe those are her plans," he says, chuckling himself.

—————

Henry can't believe how well things are going. He tries to ignore the way his heart is pounding every moment that Ted is here, but it's nearly the only sound he can hear. He's surprised that Ted hasn't noticed it yet.

Other than that, Henry realizes he hasn't felt this relaxed in... a very,  _ very _ long time. Not since— he refuses to even think her name. She was long gone, and she didn't matter any more. He forces himself to focus back on the conversation with the very attractive single father— confirmed to be attracted in men!— before him.

"So how often do you get students asking for  _ extra credit _ ?" Ted asks, putting air quotes around the last two words.

Henry blushes slightly. "None in the last fifteen years or so. Before that? There was always one or two every semester. Usually young women, although there were a few men who've tried..."

"Did any of them succeed?" Ted teases, and Henry shakes his head decisively. "What would it have taken for someone to?"

"I don't sleep with my students," he says, trying to not put any emphasis on 'my'. He doesn't want to have to explain  _ that _ .

"If only my  _ Intro to Journalism _ professor felt the same way," Ted sighs. "I'd have gotten top marks if he hadn't slept with half the girls in the class... so were the attempts at least amusing?"

"Oh yes," Henry chuckles. "I had a young woman pull out all the stops— revealing clothes, dropped something in front of me, she even sat on my desk."

"What did you do?"

"Laughed in her face," Henry admits, mildly ashamed. "I felt bad about it afterward, but it was just too funny..."

"I can imagine," Ted says. "So were there any that even came close to getting your pants off?"

Henry blushes a little harder. "Well— the first year I started teaching, there was... there was one young man who was actually older than I was at the time. I was 29, and he was 31 and had just decided to go back to school. He got very close. But nothing really happened, not with him and not with any of my other students." In actuality, that student hadn't gotten nearly as close as Henry was letting on, but he wanted Ted to know that he was, indeed, attracted to men as well.

"What's the worst pickup line one of them gave you?" Ted asks, not seeming to be surprised by the idea of Henry liking men.

"Hm... that's difficult," he admits. "There have been many bad ones. There was one who read from a whole list of chemistry-based ones, and I had to interrupt him to remind him I was a biologist, not a chemist."

Ted howls with laughter, and Henry joins him a little more quietly. His heart is hammering again at the sound. Henry finally decides to just go for it.

"Would you want to go on a date with me this weekend?"


	11. Chapter 11: Take Off Your Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning: this chapter alludes to sexual content, but there's nothing even remotely explicit

Ted feels sluggish as he processes what was just asked of him.

"A date?" He repeats, and Henry nods. He seems nervous, as Ted continues to stare at him with his mouth slightly ajar.

After a few moments, where he's trying to figure out if the other man is as serious as he seems, Ted nods. "I'd like that. Does Saturday sound good? I'll make sure Lex or someone can watch Hannah."

Henry seems to instantly regain his confidence. "Saturday sounds perfect," he says. "How about dinner at Olive Garden?"

Ted nods again. "That sounds good to me. I like Olive Garden."

After a few more minutes, Hannah comes into the dining room with Peter on her heels. "Daddy, I'm ready to go home now," she says.

"Of course, Pumpkin," he murmurs, glancing at Henry and smiling. He picks her up when she yawns.

Henry glances down at the watch on his wrist. "I had no idea it was nearly seven," he admits. "I should've offered you dinner. Are you hungry?"

Hannah nods, laying her head on her father's shoulder. "Wanna go home, though. We have mac and cheese there."

"Lex might be waiting for us," Ted adds. "We should get going. Hannah, what do we say to Henry and Peter?"

"Thanks for letting us come over," Hannah says shyly, waving to both of them.

"You know you are welcome here any time," Henry says warmly, and waves back. He looks back to Ted. "I'll see you Saturday, then?"

Ted grins. "Does five o'clock sound good to you?"

"It can't come soon enough," Henry sighs, sounding a little wistful. He goes and opens the front door for them, and he and Peter wave goodbye.

Ted buckles Hannah into her car seat, then gets in the driver's seat and starts up the car. He drives them home in relative silence— the only sound being Hannah's occasional giggle. When they get home, Ted carries her inside. Lex is already home, and there's no sign of Ethan or their friends. It looks like she's only just gotten home herself.

"How'd it go?" She calls from the kitchen, where she's making herself a sandwich for dinner.

"Hannah barely talked to the professor all afternoon," Ted says, setting the five year old on the couch before going to join the seventeen year old in the kitchen. "She spent the whole time with Peter. Was that your plan the whole time?"

Lex smirks mischievously at her father. "Maybe... did it work?"

"Henry and I have a date on Saturday," Ted says flatly, hiding his amusement well. "You better be available to watch Hannah, or you're grounded."

Lex just laughs. "I was just gonna hang out with Ethan at his house. He won't mind me bringing Hannah along."

"He better not," Ted grumbles playfully. He knows how much the kid adored Hannah. "He can come here, though, if you want."

"Nah," Lex scoffs, smirk still on her face. "I'd rather not be around in case your date goes  _ really _ well, if you know what I mean."

Ted's eyes practically bulge out of his head. "Alexandra!" He scolds, but she just laughs again.

"Relax, Dad," she says. "I'm just teasing... mostly. Hannah and I will be taken care of, out of the house. Don't worry."

"I'm your father, I always worry," Ted admits.

Hannah comes in and asks for dinner, so Ted fixes her the leftover mac and cheese from last night and sits her down at the kitchen table with it. He watches as she chows down, and decides to fix some for himself.

—————

The next two days pass slowly, but soon enough, Ted finds himself standing in front of his dresser, trying to figure out what to wear. This was Olive Garden. He'd been there in his Sunday best and in ratty jeans and a teeshirt. He doubts this is an occasion for either of those ends of the wardrobe spectrum.

He turns around when he hears a knock at his door. Lex is standing there, leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on her face.

"Want some help?" She asks, and Ted doesn't hesitate to accept.

"Yes, please," he sighs. "I have no idea what the hell I should wear..."

"Where are you guys going?" Lex asks, coming forward to pick through his closet.

"Olive Garden," he says. "At five."

"Is he picking you up, or are you meeting him there?" Lex pulls out two different button-downs, comparing the two to her father, and puts one back.

"Meeting him there."

Lex lays the shirt out on his bed, then starts going for pants. She pulls out a pair of khakis and sets them out, too. Finally she goes for his ties, and picks out a plain, pale blue one. Ted has to admit it looks good with the gray button-down she'd picked.

"Put these on," Lex instructs, and heads back out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Ted hurriedly gets dressed, checking the alarm clock for the time. He still has half an hour before he even needs to leave. He checks himself over in the mirror, nodding to himself, before opening the bedroom door again. Lex is waiting in the hallway, and smiles at him.

"How do I look?" Ted asks nervously.

"Fantastic!" Lex says cheerfully. "Put on your belt and shoes and go get 'im!" Ted chuckles at her enthusiasm, and goes to do just that.

—————

Henry finds himself at the restaurant almost twenty minutes early, and resigns to waiting for the reserved table he'd requested to be available. He brushes himself off a little, and takes a moment to admire his own clothing choices again. Peter had helped, of course, but the final decisions were Henry's. Gone were his signature khakis and black turtleneck. In their place, he was wearing olive pants and a blue-and-white striped button down shirt.

The waitress come over and leads him to his table almost ten minutes early, and offers him the drinks menu. He declines it, knowing that Ted would likely avoid it as well, given his ex-wife's history. And the fact that they'd both driven themselves here.

Henry has to focus to keep his knee from bouncing under the table as he waits. At three minutes till 5:00, Ted sits across from him at the table with a nervous smile.

"Have you been waiting long?" Ted asks, and Henry quickly shakes his head.

"Only a few minutes," he says, not counting the time before the table was ready. Ted's smile goes from nervous to genuine.

"Oh, good," he says, and picks up the menu in front of him. The waitress comes by again.

"Hi, Mr. Foster," she says. "How are you tonight? How's Lex?"

"Lex is fine, Grace," Ted chuckles. "And how are you?"

"I'm good," she replies cheerfully, then goes into her practiced speech about drinks and specials. Ted just orders water, and Henry follows suit. "Soup or salad?" Grace asks.

"Salad for me," Ted says, and Henry agrees with that as well. You can't  _ not _ order the house salad at Olive Garden.

"And are you ready to order dinner as well, or do you need some more time?"

"I always get the same thing," Henry admits. He orders, and so does Ted. They get different things, but Henry thinks that Ted's choice sounds good, too.

"I'll get the salad and breadsticks right out to you!" The waitress, Grace, says. She flounces off, taking their menus with her.

"Remind me to get some alfredo to-go for Hannah," Ted says, leaning against the back of his seat. Henry chuckles.

"You're a good father," he says softly, and Ted blushes.

"I try my best," he says. "It's not always enough, especially for two girls. They definitely deserve better than they've been given."

"Perhaps in the maternal department," Henry allows. "But they couldn't ask for a better father."

—————

Ted doesn't remember a time he felt this... this  _ embarrassed _ from a compliment. Maybe it was because it was one he wasn't used to hearing, or maybe it was the person giving him the compliment.

He'd been expecting to see the professor wearing his usual attire, but  _ damn _ if what he  _ was _ wearing wasn't having an effect on Ted. The blue in the other man's shirt was really bringing out his eyes, and Ted wasn't usually one to wax poetic about that kind of thing. He was reminded of a line from Hannah's favorite movie— he has the damn thing nearly memorized thanks to the five year old's insistence that they watch it at least once a week— Aristocats.

Good God. What was Henry doing to him?

Grace brings out the salad and breadsticks, and tops off their waters. The cheese grater is a good distraction for Ted, as he watches it do its thing. Henry lets him decide when Grace should stop, and there's quite a pile on top of the salad before Ted finally does stop her. She heads off to take care of another table, as Ted and Henry serve themselves.

They talk about lighter subjects as they eat— Henry asks for clarification on what Ted does for a living, and Ted tries to give it. He's a journalist, yes, but he doesn't necessarily do much journalism these days. He works for a software firm. Henry talks about some of the classes he teaches, and Ted tries to keep up.

Grace comes along with their entrees, and takes their salad plates out of the way. Henry gets a bit of cheese on top of his, and Ted gets quite a bit more. He grins at Henry as Grace leaves again.

"You should see the amount Hannah likes to put on hers," he says. "Probably about twice this much— maybe more, if we don't stop her in time."

"Maybe I will see it one day," Henry hums, and Ted smirks.

"Maybe you will," he agrees.

They eat in relative silence, only making the occasional comment or joke. It's a comfortable silence, though, and there's no pressure for it to be any different. The restaurant gets busier and busier, and Grace checks in less frequently.

Finally, she comes to ask about dessert.

"No, thank you," Ted sighs. "But can I get two orders of the alfredo to go? Lex and Hannah would kill me if I forgot."

"Of course— do you want a bag of breadsticks to go with it?" Grace asks, and Ted nods.

He and Henry go back to talking, this time about Peter and how things are going with that. A few minutes later, Grace comes back with the orders in a bag, and a question about how to split the check. Before Ted can even think about it, Henry is reaching for it and paying for everything himself.

"Wha— Henry, no!" He protests, but the older man won't hear it.

"I asked you here, I'm paying," Henry insists. "I'm old fashioned that way— and yes, I'm paying for the girls' dinners, too." Grace giggles as she accepts the payment and goes to process it. Ted's still protesting when she comes back, even though by then it's too late.

Henry walks him to his car, and Ted offers something he doesn't think he's ever offered on the first date.

Twenty minutes later, Ted's home and making sure the extra meals are put away properly. Lex and Hannah are indeed gone— the elder sister's left a note on the fridge explaining that they're actually having a sleepover at Alice's house instead of Ethan's.

That's probably a good thing, considering Henry came home with Ted. Or at least followed him home, when Ted asked him to.

Ted goes back to the living room where Henry's still standing, and kisses him hard. Hands are flying, and feet are shuffling. Ted leads him back to the master bedroom and pins him against the door once they're inside.

Then the clothes start flying.


	12. Chapter 12: It's Not Over Yet

Lex leaves Alice's house early the next morning, without Hannah. She's just running home to grab her forgotten change of clothes, and to check to see if it was even safe for them to come home. If Dr. Hidgens is still there (assuming he'd come home with their dad at all), Lex isn't gonna get Hannah anywhere near that.  _ She _ doesn't want to be anywhere near that.

She sees the professor's car in the driveway, and snickers to herself before going inside. It's dead quiet, and Lex tiptoes to her room. She grabs what she needs, and heads back out— freezing when she hears a thud and a groan. Lex doesn't dare move, not until her dad's bedroom door cracks open. She sees her dad peek out, and they both blush as they make eye contact.

Ted steps out into the hall, closing the bedroom door behind him. Lex thanks God that he's wearing pajama pants.

"Not a word," he warns her quietly, and Lex smirks as she mimes zipping her lips. "What are you even doing here? Where's Hannah?"

"She's still at Alice's," Lex whispers. The pair head into the kitchen. "I just came back because I forgot my clothes.. and I wanted to see if I'd been right."

Ted just groans quietly. "Alexandra..."

"I'm sorry, Dad," she says. "I had to. I won't say anything else, I promise."

He hugs her, sighing. She hugs him back briefly.

"I'm heading back, now, so you guys can take your time. Love you!"

She kisses Ted's cheek and hurries back out the front door, ignoring his spluttered protests and wicked blush. Lex drives back to her friend's house, all before Hannah wakes up. Alice is awake, though, and shares a giggle with her when Lex explains what happened.

Hannah wakes up not too long after, and the three watch a movie together. Alice's dad, Bill, makes them some french toast for breakfast.

—————

Later that afternoon, when Henry gets home, Peter is fixing a snack in the kitchen. He smirks at Henry, who blushes.

"Your date went well, then?" Peter teases, and Henry nods.

"I'm going to go change," he murmurs, and heads downstairs to his bedroom.

He catches sight of himself in the mirror as he undresses, and blushes again. His skin is littered in bruises and lovebites. The blush fades and he smirks when he remembers that his partner had been just as marked up— if not more— by the time Henry had actually left. He quickly changes into some fresh clothes and heads back upstairs.

Peter's texting someone when he comes back, snickering at whatever the other person has said. He types out a response, and glances up at Henry.

"If you didn't normally wear turtlenecks, I'd think you were trying to hide something," he says, still smirking.

"Perhaps I am," Henry sniffs playfully. "You won't be finding out. Now, why don't we talk about dinner?"

Peter laughs. "Don't go changing the subject— it's not even two o'clock yet. Is there gonna be a second date or what?"

"Yes, there is," Henry allows. "We're going to see a movie tonight, which is why you and I need to talk about dinner."

Peter gapes at him. "Seriously? Already?"

Henry nods, quite pleased with himself. "Yes. Once school starts back up on Monday, we're both going to be quite busy for a while and we agreed we didn't want to wait that long for our second date."

"Wow," Peter says. "Good for you guys! Should I— uh, should I make myself scarce or something?"

Henry hesitates. On the one hand, he'd love for last night to have a repeat performance; but on the other hand, he doesn't want to assume that Ted wants the same thing.

"I'm just gonna make plans to stay over at Ethan's anyway," Peter says carefully, already texting the other boy. He clearly sees the dilemma on Henry's face. "Just in case..."

Henry gives him a grateful smile, and goes to grab himself a snack. Peter munches on his granola bar, watching his father-figure carefully. They eat in silence together.

—————

Ethan's hanging out in his room when he gets the text from Peter.

_ >> Can I come crash at your place tonight? Henry and Ted's date went really well last night. Lex might have told you Henry stayed the night at her house. Well their second date is tonight, and I want to make this house available in case they decide to... you know. Again. _

Ethan snorts. Lex had told him about that, including the second date. He replies to Peter.

_ << Ok dude _

Peter's response is quick, too. Just a simple 'thanks'. Ethan double checks with his mom, of course, but she doesn't have a problem with a friend staying the night.

A couple hours later, Dr. Hidgens drops Peter off at Ethan and Beck's door.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Mrs. Green," Peter says politely. She waves him off.

"It's no problem, but I don't go by that name anymore," she says. "I went back to my maiden name after my husband left. It's Ms. Armstrong now, but you can call me Beck."

"Right," Peter says. "Beck. Okay. Is that short for Rebecca?"

Mrs. Gr— Ms. A—  _ Beck _ laughs. "No, it's short for Beckett. Although I did have a roommate in college named Rebecca. That got confusing for a while, but we got used to it."

"My mom's name was Rebecca, that's why I asked," Peter says sheepishly.

"Okay, Mom," Ethan says pointedly. "We're gonna go watch some TV." He drags Peter into the living room, and they sit on opposite ends of the couch. "How about... Brooklyn 99?"

"Sure. I love that show," Peter sighs, slumping on the couch. His backpack, with a change of clothes and his toothbrush inside, sits on the floor at his feet.

They watch a couple episodes before Beck comes back into the room. "What do you want on your pizza, Peter?"

"Um, I'm not that picky," he replies, looking away from the TV to look at her. She's wearing different clothes than she was earlier. Before it had been jeans and a long-sleeve teeshirt. Now she was wearing nurses' scrubs. "Anything but pineapple, anchovies, or green peppers."

"How about just pepperoni and sausage?" Ethan pipes up. "That's what I usually get."

Peter points at him. "That's actually perfect,"

Beck gives them both a thumbs up. "Pepperoni and sausage, got it. Anything to drink? They've got Pepsi products."

"I'll be fine with just water," Peter says swiftly. "I don't drink much else anyway."

"Dr. Pepper for me," Ethan says.

"Okay," Beck hums, tapping on her phone. "Order's in, it'll be here in about 45 minutes. I've got the graveyard shift tonight, so I won't be back until morning. Behave, boys!"

She half-slams the front door shut behind her as she leaves.

"She's a nurse at the hospital," Ethan explains, turning the volume up on the TV as the next episode starts.

"Um... do you mind if I go take my binder off?" Peter asks quietly. "I'm not supposed to wear it for too long." Ethan points him in the direction of the bathroom, so Peter goes to change into his pajamas— some sweatpants, a sports bra, and a baggy teeshirt.

—————

As it turns out, Henry wasn't alone in his desire for a repeat of last night's end. He'd picked Ted up this time, after dropping Peter off at Ethan Green's house. After the movie, the pair can hardly keep their hands to themselves long enough for Henry to get them back to his house. Certainly not long enough, once the car was parked, to get from the car to Henry's bedroom. They end up on the couch in the living room instead.

"What is this?" Henry asks, practically growling as he pins Ted down.

"What?" Ted asks breathlessly.

"What are we? Is this— is this casual? Are we going to be serious?" Henry clarifies, not letting the other man up.

"I don't really do casual," Ted admits.

"Thank God; neither do I," Henry groans, and kisses him again.

—————

The next morning, Beck arrives home to see her son and his friend asleep on the couch. If it weren't for the empty pizza box on the coffee table, the pajamas both boys were wearing, and the video game controllers in their laps, she would have said they hadn't moved since she'd left the night before.

Shs sighs, and goes to get a shower. When she gets out and dressed and heads back to the kitchen, Peter is up and about. He's cleaning up after himself, putting the pizza box next to the trash can and emptying his glass of now-lukewarm water into the sink.

"Good morning!" She says quietly but cheerfully. Ethan's still asleep on the couch.

Peter looks over to her and smiles. "Thanks again for letting me stay over," he says.

"It's no problem," Beck chuckles. "Ethan and Lex told me what was going on, and I'm always happy to help Lex's dad." She winks. "So... old Professor Hidgens adopted you, then?"

Peter nods. "Yeah. He's pretty cool."

"I had him when I was a student," she sighs. "Everyone had a crush on him back then. Even my roommate, and she didn't even have him. So are you going to be taking his last name?"

Peter shakes his head this time. "No, at least... not yet. I'm gonna stay a Robinson for now."

Beck freezes, remembering what Peter had said last night about his mother. "Your mother's name was... Rebecca Robinson?"

Peter nods again, confused this time.

Beck exhales slowly, then laughs. "She was my roommate, the one I talked about. What a coincidence!"

—————

Later that day, Peter's sitting with Henry at the kitchen table when he remembers what Beck had told him.

"So Ethan's mom and my mom were roommates in college," Peter says. "They went to Hatchetfield Community."

"Oh, that's nice," Henry says. "Did you know that before going over?" Peter shakes his head.

"Mom never really talked about her college days," he says quietly. "All I knew is that's where she met my bio dad— my step-dad's the one who died a few years ago."

"I'm so sorry," Henry says, gently taking Peter's hand. Peter shrugs.

"He... he didn't accept me," Peter admits. "He always called me by my deadname, even when I begged him not to. I don't really miss him."

There's a few moments of silence, before Henry asks, "So what did Ethan's mom tell you? I assume you asked her some questions."

"Yeah," Peter says. "Um, first of all, she said she had you— Ethan's mom, not mine. But my mom— and apparently half the campus along with her— had a crush on you."

Henry snorts. "I'm sure that was an exaggeration," he says. "What's Ethan's mom's name?"

"Beckett Armstrong," Peter says. "But she just goes by—"

"Beck," Henry whispers, freezing in place. "Which would make your mother... Rebecca R-Robinson." He swallows harshly.

Peter gets confused again. "Yeah... Beck said she didn't have you. Did you know her?"

Henry nods, eyes wide. "I— we—" His head snaps to Peter, searching his face for something. "When's your birthday?" He asks.

"February 21st, 2002," Peter says, a pit growing in his stomach. Was Henry implying— no. He can't be...

Henry shoves away from the table abruptly, and half-drags Peter down to the lab in the basement.

"I need to be sure," he mutters to himself, bringing out a pair of DNA swabs and giving one to Peter.

Half an hour later, they stare at the results together in shock.

"I'm... I'm actually your father," Henry mumbles. "What are the odds that I adopted my own son by accident?"


	13. Chapter 13: Happy Ending

_ May 25th, 2019 _

Eight months after the almost-Apotheosis, Ted Foster and Henry Hidgens are standing side by side in matching white tuxedos.

Peter wears one, too, although his is a traditional black. He stands at Henry's side. Lex is wearing a dress— one of the few occasions she would ever allow herself to do so— and standing at Ted's.

Hannah sits in the front row, also wearing a dress, with Ethan sitting next to her. Emma, Paul, Bill, Alice, Deb, and another couple dozen people are all sitting in attendance, too, watching quietly.

After the ceremony, everyone trudges up the hill toward the park's pavilion, which has been set up and decorated for the reception. Fairy lights are strung up around the columns and across the ceiling, candles lit at the center of every table, which form a ring around the dancefloor in the center, except for two of them on either end. One of those is the buffet table, and the other is the grooms' party's table.

Everyone finds their seats— six to a table, except for the grooms' table which only has the five of them.

Ethan sits with Alice, Deb, and few other kids from school. Bill sits with Paul, Emma, Melissa, and two others from Ted's office. There's a table of fellow staff members from the college, as well as a table of some of Henry's favorite students, and a table with some of Hannah's school friends.

After dinner comes the dancing. First Ted and Henry, alone together, doing something they've been rehearsing for two months. Then, instead of a traditional 'father of the bride' or 'mother of the groom' dance, the newlyweds split a song, alternating between their three kids.

Then comes the cutting of the cake. Henry and Ted both end up shoving their slices into each other's faces, making everyone laugh, but no one more than themselves.

By the end of the night, when it's time to see them off to their honeymoon, Peter has to carry Hannah because she's fallen asleep with her head on the table. Lex and Peter trail in front, climbing into the car first. Then Ted and Henry follow as the guests throw rice into the air.

They head back to the house first— which Ted and the girls had moved into at the beginning of the year— and wake Hannah up so they can all get changed before heading to the airport in Clivesdale. They have a plane to catch, and Disneyland to get to.

"I'm going to spoil you two rotten this Christmas," Henry whispers to the now-six year old as they wait for the plane to Los Angeles to finish boarding. "I heard there's a new doll being released later this year... what's it called... the Tickle-Me-Wiggly?"

Hannah scrunches her face in disgust, even as tired as she is. She says quietly, "I don't want  _ that _ . It's ugly, and not in the good way like a Christmas sweater. Besides, Webby says Wiggly is bad."


End file.
